


The Genin Blues

by PR0F_GMK54



Category: Naruto
Genre: Fluff, Incest, Multi, Sexual Content, Sexual Fantasy, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-31 11:20:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 156,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15118298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PR0F_GMK54/pseuds/PR0F_GMK54
Summary: Naruto has just graduated from the academy and has become a Genin. Follow him on his adventure to become a Ninja as he faces the dangerous foes across the Ninja world while finding himself becoming closer to some of the Women in his life.





	1. Family Fights

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there and welcome to my Naruto story, been working on this thing for a month now and I'm excited to finally release it. Plan for this story is to get a little harem going for Naruto along with following him along his journey to becoming a ninja, I'm planning on going big for this story so it's gonna be long ride it looks like.
> 
> Now than just some little tid-bits you should probably know about how I made this world. Naruto's got an older sister, his parents are still alive, and the events of part 1 of the series have already happened, except instead of Naruto it was his Sister who participated in those events a couple of years ago along with the other cast of characters, so everyone is age up to their Shippuden appearance expect Naruto, who just graduated the Academy and is becoming a Genin . Shippuden hasn't happened but you'll learn more about the world and what changes I've made as the story progresses, so I hope you enjoy the first chapter and stick around.
> 
> PS: I've been trying to use Japanese honorifics in the dialogue, like, -san,, -chan, along with some ways to refer to people like neechan and Kaasan. But sometimes I like the way things like Mom or worlds like that fit in a scene better so you'll see it flip flop sometimes, though I'll try to minimize switching between them as much as I can as to not become annoying. Also there's incest in this story, so yeah, read at your own risk.

"Hyah!"

"Come on Naruto, that all you got!?"

"You can do it pep-squeak!"

"Naruko I think you're going a bit too far!"

Naruto and his older sister Naruko were currently having a match at the training grounds while Naruko's friends watched. Naruko had promised Naruto that when he graduated from the academy she'd face him in a real match. And just an hour after the ceremony Naruto practically dragged her to the training field for the match.

Naruko gracefully dodged all of her little brother's attack, ducking her head when he kicked while spinning gracefully when he threw his shurikens at her, her twin ponytails swinging around her. While her little brother may have had more skill than the average genin, especially one who had just graduated, her years of experience and level as a Chunin made his attacks child play to her. Grabbing Naruto by the arm when he tried to punch her, throwing him into the lake.

Placing a hand on her hips she grinned at her little handiwork. Naruko Namikaze Uzumaki was the first born daughter of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, currently at the rank of a Chunin well on her way to becoming a Jonin, her headband wrapped securely around her neck. She was one of the most beautiful women in Konoha, the way her blonde hair sway at length to her full hips, her slender legs exposed by her black short shorts while her foot was somewhat covered by her combat boot which had a small heel to give her some extra height. Her bright yellow and black jacket somehow able to contain the impressive bust she had beneath, a gift courtesy of her best friend Hinata.

She was only 5 when the Kyuubi attacked 12 years ago, she didn't remember much of that night despite it also being the day Naruto was born. But when it was all over, the leaf village was thankfully still intact, and her family was still among the living. Her Mother and Father explained to her that she now had a great power inside of her, one that she would now need to control. Minato sealed the lower of the Kyuubi inside of his daughter while the soul went inside if his son, it was the hardest decision he ever made, one he tried to make up for every day since then, wanting his family to have a normal life. Minato and Kushina helped to train Naruto to control the Kyuubi's power, and thanks to that training she was able to go up to 5 tails with control.

And during that time she made friends, they grew up together, fought each other during the Chunin exams, risked their lives for each, and now they were berating her for being too rough on her brother.

"You didn't have to throw him that hard Naruko." Sakura stated, hands on her hips as she looked at her squadmate. She and Naruko had been on the same team along with Sasuke under the supervision of Kakashi Hatake. While they didn't really get along at first, getting on each others nerves a couple of times, they bonded during the years and developed a sort of sisterly relationship. While they had some rocky parts, especially when Sasuke was on the brink of going to Orochimaru, they were able to stop him and help him come back. Now the three of them were Chunins, not going on many missions with each other anymore, and rarely as a full squad. Especially with Sasuke and Kakashi constantly out on mission, Sasuke always wanted Kakashi with him whenever he went out on a long and distance mission, not knowing if he would encounter Orochimaru or his brother, he didn't know if meeting them would cause him to go back into the darkness, trusting Kakashi with keeping him in check.

Next to her she also saw Ino give a look of disapproval, "Come on Naruko, I know he's your little brother but you could at least let him land one punch."

"Oh come on, you'd be insulting the little guy if you held back, he's giving it his all." Kiba interjected, while he and Naruto always got in each other's faces when they saw each other he always respected the little punk for his work.

"Yes, you both most give it your all!" Lee screamed, making Neji and Tenten back away from him a bit.

"Oh don't worry, Naruto can take it, I told him to prepare himself for this battle and he told me that he could take what I could throw." Naruko stated as she turned to her friends.

"So you threw him?" Shikamaru questioned, while looking at the lake waiting for Naruto to surface, noticing the multiple bubbles that were spread out around the water.

"Yes." Naruko stated with a proud smirk on her face.

"Well, then I guess you'll have to throw more cause it looks like he ain't done yet." Shikamaru told her as the rest of the group looked at the water, all sensing the multiple chakra sources from it.

Several Naruto jumped out of the water, throwing multiple shurikens and kunai at her which she dodged as they all landed and ran towards her to rush her.

"Get ready Nee-chan cause here I come!" The Naruto's shouted as they ran towards her.

Naruko had a playful grin on her mouth, "Well then maybe you'll actually give me a challenge!" She teased as she got into a battle stance.

"I still can't believe Naruto learned the multi-shadow clone jutsu." Hinata stated, she was Naruko's best friend, their positions in their respective clans making them get to know each other a lot. While Hinata was shy, Naruko's outgoing personality helped to break her out of her shell, at least a little bit. Heck Naruko usually joked with her that if she was more comfortable with showing off her body she'd probably get as many admires as Naruko did, especially since her breasts were still a bit bigger than Naruko's, somewhat of a sore spot for her. They pretty much always got together when they had some free time, and Hinata usually spent a lot of time at her house, getting to know her family and becoming a bit of a sibling to Naruto as he grew up. So she was always a bit concerned with his safety.

"I know, how'd he even learn it?" Ino asked as well, looking at Shikamaru who just sighed knowing they were expecting him to answer for him, he was one of the Leaf's top strategist, working under his father which put him close to the Hokage as well, so out of everyone of in their group he knew what was going on behind the scenes the most.

"Well apparently on a trip with Lord Third they stopped by the place which guarded the forbidden scroll, some high-level Ninja tried to take it. While Lord Third fended them off he had Naruto run and take the scroll far away, one of the underlings followed him and Naruto said he opened the scroll to see if there was a jutsu he could use to defend himself with. Naruto says he's not sure how he learned it, but that he just remember it came naturally to him, learning it just in time to take out that underling. After that, he tired himself out and the Third took him back to Konoha." Shikamaru explained, as everyone listened to him before turning their attention back to the fight in front of them. Naruto was using the clones as much to his advantage as he could, as soon as Naruko deflected the attacks of one clone, another one would replace her.

After taking out one of his clones Naruko stated, "Trying to find an opening huh? Smart, but I won't give you one." Placing her hands together she formed a seal, readying a Jutsu to end the battle for good, but just as she was about to cast it she felt someone grab onto her back and unclasp her hands.

"Didn't expect this huh, Nee-chan?" One of the Narutos stated as he held onto her arms, pinning them between his as the rest of the clones jumped up ready to strike her all at once.

"I'm impressed Naruto, surprised me there for a moment." Naruko praised him as the clones got closer before she turned her head to him and smirked, "But I'm still better."

Using her legs Naruko spun around quickly, causing the Naruto on her back to lose his grip and fall off. Using this opportunity Naruko clasped her hands together and used wind style to speed up her movements before jumping up and displaying all the clones with a single spinning kick.

Landing down graceful Naruko walked up to her defeated little brother, a proud smirk on her face as she bent down a bit, "Nice try little bro but you still got a way to go." She stated.

"Aww, he was so close." Kiba stated disappointedly,

"I know, I actually thought he might land a punch." Ino added,

"It's not over yet." Neji stated, causing everyone to look at him questionable

"But look at him, this battles over." Sakura said, waving her arms at Naruto who was on the ground with Naruko looking down at him.

"Just watch." Shikamaru responded, making everyone look at the battle again.

"You know Nee-chan, I think you're still underestimating me." Naruto told her with his head down,

Naruko raised an eyebrow at his remark, "Oh really?"

Naruto than raised his head to look at her, simply stating "Yeah." He then quickly brought his hands together to a seal, and in a puff of smoke, he was gone.

"A clone!?" Naruko stated surprised.

As the smoke from the clone disoriented her for a moment Naruko felt the earth below her cracking, looking down she saw the earth rise up in pieces before something popped out, that something being Naruto. His hand in an uppercut, his knuckles bloodied his fist was aimed at her chin. As the spectators looked surprised at the action Naruko felt her blood rushing, her mind kicking into autopilot she moved her head to the side as his strike gazed the side of her face before bringing an elbow to his chest. The force strong enough for him to be thrown into the nearby tree before slumping down.

"Naruto!" Naruko shouted in fear before she ran to him, the rest of the group also going over to see how hurt Naruto was.

"Sakura!" Naruko pleaded as Sakura bent down at Naruto.

"I'm on it." Sakura stated as she opened her palms as they began to glow in light blue as she used her medical ninjutsu.

"My goodness, Naruko! What were you thinking!?" Ino shouted at the twin-tailed blonde.

"I don't know! He got me off guard and my instincts kicked in and - oh my goodness Sakura please tell me he's gonna be OK." Naruko asked worriedly, her eyes starting to water up in fear of possibly really hurting her little brother.

"Don't worry, you may have gone a bit overboard but it looks like you didn't hurt him too bad, he just knocked out. He might be a bit sore when he wakes up but other than that he should be fine as long as he gets some rest." Sakura assured her as she stood up and placed a hand on her teammate's shoulder to reassure her.

"Oh thank goodness." Naruko replied, relieved that Naruto would be alright.

"You know that move he used looked just like how you beat Neji during the Chunin Exams." Kiba stated as he crouched down to look at Naruto, he's bloodied fist no longer bleeding from the cuts thanks to Sakura's healing.

"I know, he set it up so that you thought he was defeated than used the shadow clone to disorient you before appearing, smart." Neji said, the battle he and Naruko had at the exams was one that changed his life, she was able to set him on the right path, and he was grateful for it.

"Heck, it looks like it worked, even if he caught you off guard Naruto still was able to graze your cheek." Shikamaru added as he pointed to the injury.

Naruko placed a hand on her left cheek and flinched a bit, "You're right, guess I'll have to congratulate him on it later." Naruko stated as she picked up Naruto on her back.

"Welp, I should take him home for now, see you guys later." Naruko stated as she walked home, her friends waving goodbye as they went home as well.

* * *

The sun was currently settling on Konoha as Naruko carried Naruto home, ignoring the looks that came at her and Naruto. She was used to people looking at her, daughter of the Hokage, prodigy ninja, hot piece of ass, she knew the many reasons. But it wasn't the looks at her that she cared about, it was those on Naruto. She knew that while the villagers respected her and her family, Naruto was not at the same level for them. She knew why they despised him, the cold stares in their eyes being proof to her. She hated it, she remembers asking her Parents why Naruto was looked at like that, they didn't give her a straight answer at the time, she eventually figured out it had to do with the power that was sealed inside of her.

She remembered how cold her blood went when she found out that the soul of the Kyuubi was inside her little brother, the monster that almost destroyed Konoha and almost killed her parents, was inside of him. But she wasn't angry at Naruto, she was mad at herself, as his big sister she should've gotten the burden and shielded him from that task, but instead she got the glory, the _power_ to protect Konoha.

Reaching her house the seal that was used to protect it from intruders let them in, opening the door Naruko called out, "Kaasan! Tochan! I'm home with Naruto!"

Just than Kushina appeared from the kitchen, "Oh hi there Naruko, I see Naruto tired himself out from your little spar." She said.

Kushina Uzumaki was a beautiful woman, her long red hair flowing to her hips. Her slender arms exposed by the white vest she wore along with the green apron on top of it, both barely able to conceal the size of her massive breasts that even Naruko was jealous. Even though she had two kids she still looked as though she was in her 20s, and many men, including some women, cursed the Hokage for being so lucky.

"Yeah, he really gave it his all during our match, surprised me." Naruko stated proudly as she began to walk upstairs, "I"m gonna go put him to bed, by the way where Tochan?" She asked.

"He's currently on some peace talks with some of the towns in the Land of Fire, he had to leave as soon as Naruto's graduation was over, he won't be back for a while I'm afraid." Kushina stated as she went back to finish preparing dinner.

"Alright!" Naruko replied as she carried Naruto to his room, opening the door she gently put him to bed, using a nifty little jutsu she learned to dry him off from any remaining water that was still soaked in his clothes before taking off his jacket organge jumpsuit and sandales, leaving him in his boxers and shirt.

Leaning down she gave him a little kiss on the forehead, "Night little brother." Giggling as she saw him smile in his sleep as she left the room to go and eat with her mother.

* * *

Naruto woke up, but not in his room, instead he was surrounded by walls giant walls, the floor cover in water that reached up to his shin, and a giant Cage smacked dab in the middle as the whole place was lit up by a dim light. Naruto could only give a groan as he got up, he knew where he was and was not looking forward to this.

"What do you want!" Naruto called out to the large figure in the darkness

 **"Oh what, can't have my little carrier come and visit me?"** The distorted voice called out.

"Not like you actually like me so what the point!?" Naruto asked

The figure then started to shrink, coming into the light as it said " **The point? The point is _that I have_** _to watch_ you get your ass beat by the one who's using my power!" The distorted voice became much more feminine as Naruto watched the shape of the large fox become that of a woman. A beautiful Woman more than a full head and a half, taller than him, her dark orange hair splitting off into nine parts as the flow down just above her above an orange tail as her furry ears stuck out on the sides of her head. She wore a red kimono that emphasized the curves she had, the top opening a bit to reveal part of her breasts.

Naruto always had to take a moment to collect himself whenever she entered that form, making her look disgusted at him as she snaked her arm through the cell and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him up towards her as she held him up from the ground.

"Look I get that you don't like me, but I don't get why you have to hate me." Naruto exclaimed as he tried to get out of her grip with little effort.

"Doesn't change the fact I'm still impressed by you! Not only was I used, I lost my power! So while that sister of yours gets to use what is mine! I'm stuck inside of you, BOY! Not to mention I have to deal with all those perverted thoughts in your head!" The Kyuubi stated, her hatred for her warden evident in her tone.

"Not my fault, look I'm sorry about your predicament but I can't change it!" Naruto said as he tried to apologize, a bit embarrassed that she called him out on his private thoughts, he was a growing boy, it wasn't his fault that a lot of the women he knew were bombshells, from his mom and sister to his sister's friends like Hinata and Ino, and to the Kyuubi herself when she was in this form, he wasn't _that_ naive to not notice that, at least he hoped he wasn't most of the time, even so he tried his best not to stare.

"Oh my god there you go again! Do you know how degrading it is for me to feel you getting a boner for me!?" She cried out as she dropped Naruto in disgust, who let out a umph as he landed on his butt.

Naruto only looked away sadly "Look I'm sorry I just can't help it." Naruto didn't hate the Kyuubi, he could tell she suffered like him, and from how he spoke to him he could figure out the attack she committed 12 years ago wasn't her choice, he just never brought it up not knowing how she might react, she could maybe read things like his emotions, but luckily some of his thoughts were still protected, at least he hoped considering she never really seemed to react when he thought of it.

The Kyuubi just sighed, feeling how genuine he was as she sat down next to him as the bars from the cage separated them, "We both really got screwed over huh? I'll never get my freedom again, and you'll always be looked at like a monster just cause you have me in you."

"Yeah, it sucks." Naruto replied, scooting a bit closer to her, both back to back against the bars before he added, "But you still got it worse, and I know I can't really help make it better."

The Kyuubi just chuckled at his remark, "Not your fault, look I'm sorry for getting mad at you earlier, you're a good kid and I've been an asshole to you."

"It's OK, I know I'm not the smartest kid, or the most bright, or have the most pure thoughts, so I know it must suck for you to deal with me." Naruto apologize

"Got that right, but you're growing, it happens, besides you should be more proud of yourself, you actually manage to get a hit on that sister of yours." She stated,

"Really?" Naruto asked, he didn't actually know his attack hit, he assumed Naruko dodge it before it could land.

"Yeah, she was definitely surprised too, considering how she counterattacked, but she was worried for you, along with those friends of hers. Be thankful for that, many like you are not as lucky." She told him, she knew how difficult it was to be a Jinchuriki, and the way people treated them as less than human always made her hatred for humanity grow.

"Yeah, I know why people don't like me, but the love from my family is enough for me, by the way I never really did get to thank you for helping learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu." Naruto told her.

"Don't mention it, I always hated those Cloud Ninjas so seeing a kid like you beat one to a pulp was a nice treat, but don't think this little talk is gonna make me get all buddy buddy with you" She stated as she got up, making Naruto look at her before she added, "And get your damn hormones under control, it's bad enough when you're near your sister or me, not to mention when you're with that Hyuuga girl!"

Naruto was about to retort at her remark but the snap of a finger and he was enveloped in darkness, sleep finally overtaking his mind.

* * *

It was a bright morning in Konoha as the sun rose over the Village, but that also meant an alarm clock would begin to ring in a certain blond's room.

*ding *ding *ding

"Ughhh."

Naruto got up from his bed to turn off the alarm which was at the other side of the room, as much as he hated doing this, he placed the clock somewhere he couldn't reach from his bed to help motivate him to get out of bed. While he also enjoyed staying in bed a bit longer when he could, he didn't want to risk it becoming a routine. Going to the bathroom he brushed his teeth and took a short shower, his sore muscles from his fight yesterday becoming more relaxed from the warm water. After he was done he went downstairs to get breakfast, the smell of cooking making him realize he was in for a treat. But still, he couldn't help but hold his breath for what he saw, as Naruko came out of the kitchen carrying plates of food, her current attire was a sight for the eyes. She was still in her sleeping clothes, but they didn't really cover much as the big white shirt she wore had a neckline big enough for the top of one of her shoulder to be exposed along with it, along with part of her breast which showed she wasn't wearing a bra, plus the loose shorts she wore exposed much of her legs. The sight was always a lot for him to take in, but luckily with them living together he's seen her in many other types of clothing as well, and he was somewhat use to it.

"Morning Naruto, as your reward for doing such a good job against me yesterday I cooked your favorites, your welcome." Naruko said as she placed his food in front of him before giving him a quick peck on his forehead, inadvertently showing off some more cleavage to him, making him blush a bit.

"Ohh, thanks Nee-chan." Naruto replied as he decided the best course of action would be to dig into his food.

"You missed dinner last night as well so I made sure to make you extra." Naruko told him as she sat down to eat her own food.

"Oh, by the way, Naruto, sorry for knocking you out yesterday." Naruko apologize with a sincere look, making Naruto pause his eating as he looked at her.

Giving her a goofy smile he replied, "Don't worry about! I told you not to hold back! Besides the fact that I made you do it shows how strong I am!"

Naruko just gave a chuckle from his optimism, "Well that's a good way to look at it."

Just than Kushina appeared from her room, wearing her dark red nightgown which exposed much of slender arms along with ending just at her mid-thighs, her large breasts pushing out the fabric as she sat down and ate breakfast with them.

"Morning you two."

"Morning Kaasan." They both replied,

"So Naruto how are you feeling about today? You'll get to meet your sensei." Kushina asked

"I'm excited! I wonder who's it gonna be, not to mention who my teammates are gonna be, I know dad makes teams based on how compatible people are with each other." Naruto said, making Naruko give a chuckle.

"Pff, if Dad made teams like that there was no way my team would have been made, we weren't exactly compatible at first." Naruko stated, Team 7 was definitely not the best at teamwork in the early days.

"But you guys eventually became close right?" Naruto retorted, he remembered seeing Naruko return from her missions frustrated when she first became a genin, ridiculing her teammates, but then after a while, he started seeing her start to praise them and have them over at the house to talk.

"Eventually, yeah." Naruko agrred with a small smile.

Kushina chuckled from the display, watching her children just being able to be normal siblings was always a pleasant sight to her, the fact that they were able to have a somewhat normal childhood despite their status as Jinchuriki.

As Naruto finished his last bite he got up and made his way to get his ninja tools before running to the door, "Bye Nee-chan! Bye Kaasan!" he said as he bolted out of the door and to the academy to start his career as a ninja.

"He didn't even let us say goodbye." Kushina said with a low smile.

"He's excited, man will he be surprised when he gets to the academy, can't believe you haven't told him yet." Naruko stated as she looked at her Mother with a teasing stare.

Kushina just smiled back at her before replying, "I want it to be a surprise." Before getting up to get ready for the day, picking up her headband from the shelf before walking up to her room.

* * *

Naruto was currently the only one waiting in the room, all his other classmates had already gone into their teams, and he was all alone.

"Hey Iruka-sensei, what gives!? Where's my Sensei?" Naruto said

"I don't know Naruto. You're just gonna have to wait here until they show up." Iruka replied, finishing up some paperwork.

"And if they don't show?" Naruto asked

"Then we'll talk to Lord Third tomorrow." Iruka told him, the Third Hokage was currently acting as the Village head while Minato was away, so he was currently responsible for most of the village activities.

Just then a Kunai with a note flew in through an open window, surprising both Iruka and Naruto as the weapon dug itself into the chalkboard, a note attached to it.

"Naruto stay back and be ready to call for help." Iruka told him as he approached the Kunai and took the note off, reading it a smile appeared on his face which confused Naruto.

"Well Naruto looks like you won't have to wait for your sensei much longer, head to training ground 15, they're waiting for you their, and hurry, you're being timed apparently." Iruko said

Naruto immediately got up from his seat, saying goodbye to his teacher he jumped out the open window and jumped from building to building to the training ground.

* * *

"*Huff *Huff *Huff." Naruto panted as he finally reached the training ground, eyes closed as he tried to catch his breath, he didn't know how fast he was, he just hoped he was fast enough to impress his Sensei.

"My my Naruto I'm impressed, I expected you to be here in 7 minutes, but you made it in 4."

Naruto knew that voice, raising his head up he saw his Mother in a Jonin outfit, her long red hair in a high ponytail as it reached her waits, her chest covered in a traditional Chunin vest but her breast were currently pushing it out, her form-fitting pants clung tightly to her skin, and Naruto was sure if she turned around he'd probably get a good look at how ass.

"Kaasan?" Naruto asked, confused as to why she was here.

Kushina meanwhile just gave her son an innocent smile, "Surprise! I'm your Sensei!" She exclaimed,

Naruto just smiled in response, making a mental reminder to thank his father for this.

But before he could say something Kushina's face got a bit serious, "So Naruto, even though you're a Genin there's still one more test you have to pass, I'm sure you already know about it, but just to be clear, you must complete the task I give you or be sent back to the academy, understood?" She stated.

Naruto had heard about this test, he remembered how her sister complained about how scary it was when Kakashi did it to her team. He gave an understanding nod back to his mother, letting her know he was ready as his stance became more serious.

Kushina decided to mellow down a bit, not wanting to scare her son too much, "Don't be too worry about it Naruto, I'm confident you'll pass, but to let you know what the task is, you must land a hit on me. I will only dodge and won't counterattack but you have a time limit of until dawn, and it begins now!"

Just as she finished Kushina disappeared in a cloud of smoke, Naruto knew she must have been hiding now, trying to sense her Chakra Naruto found it no use. Looking around for clues she may have left behind he could only sigh, his mom wasn't gonna make this easy for him, especially considering how big the place was he better get searching. Summoning a couple of Shadow Clones they split up looking for clues as Kushina watched from her hiding place, a smile on her face as she watched her son look for her.

* * *

A couple of hours had passed since they started, and Naruto was getting close, he was able to find Kushina couple of times, but she would always disappear before he could get a solid hit. And now with just a couple of hours left before time ran out Naruto was getting worried, he knew he had probably done well enough to pass, but that wasn't enough, he wanted to excel, show his Mom just how determined he was, but he was starting to get tired, he may have had a lot of stamina but he knew the longer they kept this up the more sluggish and despite he would become. He just didn't have a plan though.

 ** _"Let me help you."_ ** A voice rang out in his head.

 _'Kyuubi?'_ Naruto thought, she never talked to him like this. It would always be within that mindscape they shared.

 ** _"I wanna have a little fun and since I'm still a bit pissy at your mom for being my old container let me help you."_** She told him.

 _'You're not gonna hurt her, are you?'_ Naruto wanted to get along with her, but if she tried to hurt his family he wouldn't think twice about stopping her.

 ** _"No, I'll just help you find her."_ ** She stated, getting Naruto's attention.

 _'How?'_ Naruto thought, he couldn't sense his mom's chakra and his mother seemed to have stopped leaving clues for him so he didn't know how the Kyuubi would do it.

 ** _"I can help you sense my Chakra from her."_** The Kyuubi said

 _'But Kaasan doesn't hold you anymore, how can you sense your Chakra in her?'_ Naruto asked

 ** _"She may not hold my power anymore, but some traces of my Chakra still remain, not enough for her to be able to tap into it for more strength, but enough for her body to use since I'm not inside of her anymore, since most Jinchuriki die when the tailed beast is extracted."_** The Kyuubi explained

 _'OK I get it, but how will I be able to sense it?'_ Naruto questioned

 _" **Close your eyes, focus on the seal on your stomach, I'll help visualize what the chakra will look like, your mother should be close by so once you feel something similar run towards it."**_ The Kyuubi said.

Naruto listing to her words did as she said, closing his eyes he focused on his seal, eventually recognizing the chakra seeping out of it, looking around he noticed something similar above him, taking the chance he threw a Kunai towards it. Seeing the image of his mother dodge it as she went towards the ground.

Kushina meanwhile was surprised, _'How did Naruto sense me? I know I made sure to mask my Chakra and not leave any clues.'_

But before she could dwell on the thought for any longer Naruto rushed her, attacking as much as he could, hoping he had caught her off guard enough to land a hit. But still, even caught off guard Kushina dodge and redirect all of his attacks before using the Substitution Jutsu to escape.

Doing the same thing as before Naruto found her chakra once again in a nearby bush, rushing towards it Kushina jumped out to dodge his attacks.

 _'No use in hiding anymore, Naruto clearly found a way to sense me, guess I'll just dodge for now and see if he can land a hit before the time runs outs.'_ Kushina thought as they continued the test inside the forest.

"Hyah!" Multiple Naruto screamed as he and his clones relentlessly attack Kushina with all their might, hoping to land a hit.

Kushina meanwhile kept dodging all of them, there were only a couple of minutes left before the time ran out and Naruto wasn't giving up, their battle moving from the forest to the lakeside.

"Come on Naruto, there's not much time left so you better land a hit!" Kushina exclaimed as she dodged his attacks, hoping to encourage her son to try even harder.

Naruto had one trick left, it barely worked on his sister yesterday but now he knew how to use it best against his mother. Crossing a pair of two fingers on each hand he made a couple of dozen clones, Kushina was a bit impressed by the number he made, but still, numbers alone wouldn't be enough. As they all surrounded her Kushina readied a battle stance as most of them jumped at her, and just as she was gonna dodge they all disappeared in a puff of smoke. Creating a giant smokescreen that engulfed her and distorted her vision.

 _'So this is how he landed a hit on Naruko, not only can I not see him, with all of those clones released their chakra is still in the air so I can't make out any individual form of him.'_ Kushina thought as she prepared herself, just then she saw the smoke around her move, a couple of Naruto's appeared around her at all angle, but just as they were about to hit her at once she jumped in the air and grabbed onto them to move herself through the air. But just as she was about to use them to jump out all the clones disappeared, and now she was in the air with no way to move.

"Gotcha now Kaasan!" Naruto shouted as he appeared in front of her, jumping at her with all his might he grabbed onto her waist, accidentally planting his face in between her breast as he sent both of them flying out of the smoke and into the lake as they fell below the water.

Kushina smiled as they hit the water, Naruto really did surpass her expectations. Both of them swimming up their heads appeared from above the water as they caught their breaths. Looking at each other they laughed, smiles on their faces as they got out, both drenched from the water.

"I've gotta say Naruto, you went above and beyond my expectations, good job." Kushina said as she brought her son into a hug, which he returned.

"Thanks Kaasan, I wanted to show you my best!" He exclaimed as they broke the hug, Kushina smiling down at him before doing a quick summoning jutsu, Naruto stepping back a bit as a tent along with a fireplace were now in the middle of the field.

"You best take off your clothes for now Naruto and let them dry, it's getting cold out and I don't want you to get sick." Kushina stated as she unzipped her Chunin vest, slipping it off before pulling her shirt over her head, making Naruto gasp inwardly as her red sports bra which contained her breasts were now in the open. Despite this Kushina seemed to pay no mind before grabbing the helms of her pants.

Naruto knowing it would probably be best to do something other than stare took off his clothes as well, removing the bright orange jumpsuit his sister gave him as a present. Making it down to his black boxers as he saw Kushina hanging her clothes, along with her undergarments on the rack above the fire for them to dry. She was only wearing a towel that barely contained her modesty as it only went from just under her butt to halfway up her breasts, shielding her nipples but revealing the top of them.

Turning to him Kushina passed him a towel, "Put your boxers over the fire as well Naruto, dry yourself off, I got some spares in the tent." She told him as she went off in the tent.

Removing his boxers as quickly as he could before covering himself with the towel Naruto hung it with the rest of his clothes over the fire. Turning his head towards the tent his face turned a bit red as he saw the silhouette of his mother dropped her towel, seeing the outline of her naked body as she bent down, showing off how round her ass was as she slipped on some underwear along putting on what he could tell was a loose shirt before she stepped out and threw him a some boxers.

"Those are your father's so they might be a bit big, anyway we'll stay out here for the night, get you use to not sleeping in a bed and outside." Kushina told him she headed back into the tent, swaying her hips a bit making Naruto stare down to see if he could get a glimpse of her behind.

As she went back into the tent Naruto quickly shook his head for thinking like that. 'I know my mom's hot but I shouldn't think of her like that.' Naruto thought as he slipped on the boxers and headed into the tent. Looking inside he saw that while it didn't look too big, it seemed comfortable enough to spend the night in, the bed inside though only looked big enough to fit two to three people at max. His Mother already under the covers while sitting up to look at him with an apologetic look.

"Sorry if this is a bit too small, your father and I usually share this tent during missions so I didn't have anything else. I hope you don't mind sharing a bed with your mother?" Kushina asked with a teasing look.

"No no, its fine Kaasan, I don't mind." Naruto said as he got under the covers with her.

But as he got under the covers he noticed his mother scoot closer to him, placing a hand on his chest while laying her head right next to him as they lied down.

"I hope you don't mind this Naruto, I just want to sleep close to you tonight." Kushina told him as she closed her eyes.

"Uhh, no problem Kaasan." Naruto said, if his mother wanted to be close to him then that was fine, he just hoped he could keep his hormones under control from their close contact. Especially as he felt her soft hand on his chest along with their legs making contact. She felt so warm, and thankfully, he was able to fall asleep quickly due to how much chakra he used up from the day.

"Night Naruto." Kushina said, smiling as she felt Naruto already asleep. She really did need to reward Minato for granting her this gift.


	2. The First Mission

Kushina was the first to awaken, her time as a shinobi helping her to wake up early for the day, though her years as a housewife made getting up a bit sluggish. As she came to her senses she realized just how comfortable she had gotten with Naruto last night. She was now pressed up against him, her breast squishing against his side while her head rested on his shoulder and her arm around his chest, she also had a leg swung over his waist. But as she was about to pull away she realized Naruto had an arm around her waist, holding her close to him as well. Despite this being a position Mother and Son should never be in, Kushina couldn't help but enjoy the feeling.

' _He feels so much like his father.'_ She thought as she decided to snuggle with him just a little bit longer, but as she decided to readjust her leg she felt a warm, hard, pole hit against it. Looking down she noticed something poking out from under the covers forming a tent, quickly realizing what it was Kushina quickly brought a hand to her mouth to cover her gasp, before smiling and giggling from the realization that she may have given her little Naru-chan a boner, finding it a bit cute instead of being turned off.

' _I should probably get dressed before he wakes up so he doesn't get embarrassed.'_ Kushina thought as she silently got out from her position and left the tent. Walking over to her now dry clothes Kushina quickly put them back on, finishing tying her long ponytail she zipped her Chunin-vest on around her large breast. She noticed Naruto finally get up, leaving the tent with a groggy face as he looked at her, rubbing his eyes with his arm. Kushina gave a smirk to herself as she took a moment to properly appreciate her son's body, while he wasn't as good looking as most men she knew, he was definitely starting to fill out, and he looked pretty good considering his age.

' _My little Naru-chan is gonna be quite the hit with the ladies when he grows up.'_ She thought, placing a hand on her hip she said, "Morning Naruto, your clothes are all finished drying so just put them on and head back to the house, I'm gonna go report to the Third about you passing, take care." Waving goodbye as she disappeared using the body flicker technique, Naruto deciding to do as he was told as he got into his clothes and walked back to the house

* * *

Arriving at the outside of the Hokage door Kushina gave a knock, "Come in." She heard an old voice come from the other side she opened the door and saw Lord Third currently organizing some of the paper he had on the desk, "You know if I didn't know better I would say that Minato planned his trip to the peace-talk to happen during the Genin Graduation so he didn't have to deal with all this paperwork." He playfully told her.

Giving a light chuckle in response Kushina apologized for her husband, "Sorry about that Lord Third, I'll make sure to give him a scolding when he comes back."

Smiling at her Hiruzen just waved off the playful suggestion, "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll regret it soon enough, especially with the Chunin Exams coming up in a couple of months. Now with that look on your face, I assume Naruto passed?"

Kushina's smile became brighter as she closed her eyes and said, "Yep, and with flying colors as well, at his current skill level I'd say he's already qualified to take the Chunin exams."

"Haha, well we'll just have to wait and see, but considering he's now a proper Ninja now I assume I should send you both off on your first mission, and I assume a standard D rank would be too beneath you both?" Hiruzen asked with a smirk.

"Please no, I don't want my first mission as a sensei to be helping move some boxes or chasing some animal, something out of the village would be great, especially something that could help test his skill level without my help." Kushina said, making Hiruzen ponder his options.

Clicking his tongue Hiruzen went to the desk and picked up a scroll, reading it before he said, "Well there might be something like that, though if I'm being honest this is probably a B-rank mission at least."

Raising her eyebrows Kushina got curious about what the mission could be, "And why is that Lord Third?" She asked.

"I have some information that should be delivered to Minato in that scroll, but most of the high up shinobi are currently spread out and I can't leave the Leaf's defense too thin. So you and Naruto could bring it to him, though it would still be a bit risky, considering it's possible you could both draw attention to yourself from your status. And considering where the peace talks are taking place it could be possible to run into _him_." Hiruzen stated.

"Orochimaru, what's his current status?" Kushina asked.

"Quite, he's been inactive so far as from what we can tell, but our current intel suggestion that he's not in the area." Hizuren explained about his former student before turning to the red-hair Jonin with a serious expression, "Knowing this do you believe you and Naruto could handle the mission?" He asked.

"Yes, if our main objective is to deliver that scroll than we should be able to take care of it, considering the area will probably run into a couple of bandits which we should be able to handle and give me some could insight on Naruto's skills, plus with the area currently in peace talks it might give Naruto some could hand on experience on how to handle a delicate situation as a Ninja. Though I do have one request." Kushina stated.

"And what is it?" Hiruzen asked.

"Allow me to bring a specific Chunin who I believe could help with the mission." Kushina said.

"And who is it?" Hiruzen asked as Kushina gave a grin before telling him.

* * *

Naruto barely reached the door to his house when it suddenly flew opened as his sister ran out.

"HeyLilBroGottaGoLateForAMissionCongratulationsOnPassing!" She quickly said as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before running off.

"Bye Nee-chan! Good luck!" He shouted even though she probably was far enough for his voice to no longer reach her, still, it felt nice to say it out loud. Walking into the house he found his Mother in the kitchen, making lunch in her usual clothes.

Noticing his presence Kushina gave him a smile, "Hey there Naruto, I decided to make some lunch to congratulate you for your hard work yesterday, I know its no Ichiraku Ramen but I hope you'll enjoy it." She said as she placed the food on the table.

Sitting down Naruto just gave his mother a toothy smile, "It's ok Kassan, your cookings always great!" He said as he dug into his food.

"Well enjoy it cause you're gonna need that energy, we're going on our first mission in a couple of hours." Kushina stated as she started to dig into her own food as well.

Stopping his eating he tried to talk but his mouth was full, making Kushina sigh at his poor table manners, "Swallow before you talk." She flatly told him, hearing him slurp down what he had in his mouth.

"I asked what type of mission would it be." Naruto stated, excited as to what it could be.

"I'll explain it later but it isn't some lame D-rank mission." Kushina told him as Naruto let out a sigh of relief.

"Now finish your food and get packing, make sure to pack what you'll need cause this mission could last a couple of days, we'll meet at the village gate in 3 hours." Kushina said as she finished her meal, getting up to pack her stuff fast as Naruto continued his meal.

* * *

Naruto was walking towards the village gate, ignoring the stares from the villagers he got as he was the giant structure come closer into sight, walking closer he noticed his mother at the gate, along with…Hinata?

Walking up to the two of them Naruto had a confused look on his face as he looked up at his Mother and Hinata who gave him a friendly wave which he returned, but before he could ask about why she was here Kushina spoke.

"Now that we're all here I'll explain the mission, we are to deliver a scroll containing important documents, the route we'll be taking should be mostly desolate and take only 2-3 days to reach." Kushina explained.

"Oh ok Kaasan, but, Hinata nee-chan why are you here?" Naruto asked, to which Hinata smiled.

"I'm here to act as the sensory ninja." She stated as Kushina nodded, "The area to which we'll deliver the scroll may be desolated but isn't in the most stable conditions, it's possible we'll run into some bandits and if unlucky enough rogue-ninja, Hinata here will use her Byakugan to scout the area." She explained.

Naruto nodded in understanding as Kushina exclaimed, "Let's go!" as they all ran out of the village and jump into the forest.

* * *

It'd had been a couple of hours since the trio started their journey, Kushina and Hinata couldn't go as fast and use the tree branches to jump as they normally would have as Naruto while definitely had stamina, didn't have the training or experience needed to keep up with them, as they ran along the route at a pace they could follow. Noticing the sun was starting to set Kushina slowed down and signaled her team to as well.

As they stopped Naruto had a confused look, "Why are we stopping Kaasan? There's still at least another hour of the sun left for us to use." He asked, not getting why his mother would make the decision.

"While we could use that time to get ahead it'd be best to set up camp and rest for now, we don't have to arrive at our destination urgently so there's no rush besides, this'll be a good chance to work on some of your training." Kushina explained.

"What type of training?" Naruto asked.

"Your chakra control, it's a skill that's best for you to learn as early as you can so we'll take half an hour to work on it before we set up camp." Kushina explained.

"How will I do that?" Naruto question, he knew the basics of chakra control from his training but never really probably worked on them, instead focusing his efforts on his strength.

"Will start with tree climbing." Kushina said as she made a seal with her hands, a quick gust of wind coming from her feet before disappearing, "Concentrate your chakra into the soles of your feet than" walking up to a nearby tree she placed her feet on the bark as she walked up, "Use it to stick onto the tree."

Nodding understandingly Naruto made a seal, bringing the Chakra to his feet he slowly placed one of his feet to the trunk of a tree. Giving it a tug he felt it stick, slowly he lifted up his other foot, but before he could plant it he fell, groaning as he landed on the ground.

Hinata looked away from where she was sitting as Kushina just gave a laugh, "Tough, huh? That's the point, you gotta focus on maintaining that chakra in your feet and using the right amount, if you can do that using chakra on other parts of your body will be much easier" She explained before throwing a Kunai halfway up the tree Naruto was using, "That'll be your target, if you can reach that height you'll have passed the training." She stated.

Getting up Naruto gave his mother a determined look, "Yes Sensei!" He stated as he formed a seal and brought chakra to his feet once more before planting a foot on the tree again, bringing the other foot even higher before he fell again.

Sitting down next to Hinata, Kushina watched her son train.

"That's some pretty tough training to start him off with Kushina-san." Hinata said, Kurenai didn't really need to teach her team chakra control much as their status in their clans made the training much easier for them as they already had experience with it. But even so, she knew how difficult mastering it could be.

Giving the blue haired girl a cheeky smirk Kushina explained her reasoning, "I know, but he's strong enough to try this sort of thing now, I don't expect to master this for a bit but this will help him push himself."

Smiling the two of them watched Naruto continue his training now able to take two steps on the tree, about to take a third before he fell once more, the impact made Kushina and Hinata cringe as that fall looked somewhat painful.

* * *

It had been around 20 minutes since Naruto started his practiced, and while he was making progress, he was getting anxious at not being able to reach the Kunai, he didn't want to disappoint his mother. So he was rushing, and it showed.

"HAAAA!" Naruto screamed as he ran towards the tree, hoping that he would be able to make up for not being able to stick long to the tree with the momentum he had, and while it may have helped a bit, gravity easily overpowered him once he lost a good grip and fell back down.

Kushina could only sigh at her student, she knew that this might be a problem while teaching him that he could get too frustrated and not focus, and as much as she wanted to help he had to overcome that problem on his own.

But as Naruto was fell down once more she saw Hinata walk over to him and offer him a hand up, which he reluctantly took, noticing the light blush he had on his face.

 _'Looks like my little Naru-chan has a crush.'_ Kushina thought as she listened in on their conversation.

"You need to relax, Naruto-kun, or you won't be able to focus on your Chakra." Hinata said to the yellow-haired boy.

"I know it's just," he said before finishing in a hushed tone so his mother wouldn't hear, "I don't want to disappoint Kaasan."

Seeing how genuine he felt Hinata decided to help him. "OK, do as I do, take a deep breath and relax." Hinata told him as they both did as she said, "Now calm your mind and bring the chakra to your feet." She continued as they both made the seal together and brought their chakra to their feet.

"Now just relax and focus on the tree, don't think about anything else." Hinata said as they both brought their feet to the tree, Hinata two steps ahead as she watched Naruto slowly but surely make progress up the tree. Making his way to the Kunai as she gave a smirk to Kushina who gave her a thumbs up in response.

Naruto was close to the Kunai, just two more steps and he would make it, "That's great, Naruto-kun! Just a bit more!" Hinata encouraged as she gave the young boy a bright smile, unfortunately, that smile made Naruto stop his momentum, his heart giving a little flutter and he swore he could hear something growl. But before he could think of what it was he lost his footing.

"Ahh!" Naruto screamed as started to fall down.

"Naruto!" Hinata explained as she stretched her hand out to the young boy to take, which he did, unfortunately also pulling her down with him as they both fell to the ground.

"Ugh." Naruto groaned as he regained his bearings, but as he tried to get up he felt something weigh him down. Pushing his hand up he felt it press into something soft, not knowing what it was he gave the object a squeeze.

"Uhh, Naruto-kun." Hinata started, and Naruto realized that Hinata was on top of him! And he quickly understood that he had just squeezed her breast. Quickly getting off of each other Naruto and Hinata both back away from each other, face as red as Kushina's hair as they faced away from each other.

"Uhh sorry about that Hinata nee-chan." Naruto said, hoping Hinata would accept his apology.

Hinata face was still red but she managed to respond, "It's ok Naruto-kun, it was an accident."

Both of them just stayed there, not knowing what to do next. Kushina laughed inwardly at the sight, deciding to spare the two from further embarrassment.

"Alright I think that's enough training for today, let's set up camp and get some sleep." Kushina said as she got up, using the summoning jutsu to bring out some camp supplies before turning to the two of them and saying, "Naruto, help me set up the camp, Hinata, you get some firewood."

Doing as they were told Naruto walked over to his mom as Hinata went into the forest to search for nice wood.

Setting up the tent Kushina decided to tease Naruto a bit, "You know Naruto it's impolite to grab a woman like that, at least take them out to dinner first." She said, stifling a giggle as she saw Naruto tense up and face heat up.

"Uh uh, yeah I'm sorry Kaasan, I didn't mean it, it was an accident." Naruto stammered out, hearing his mother giggle.

* * *

Hinata was currently walking back to the camp with some firewood, a decent pile she was luckily able to quickly find. But as she was making her way back she heard the sound of water falling, walking towards the source she stumbled upon a beautifully small pond with a rocky wall on one side as a thin waterfall cascaded down it.

An idea popped into her head, using her Byakugan she made sure no one was near, smiling as she realized she would have enough privacy she put down her pile of wood and slowly removed her clothes.

* * *

The sun was starting to set as the night sky began to take over, Kushina and Naruto had just finished setting up the camp.

 _'Hmm, what's taking Hinata so long?'_ Kushina thought, turning to her son she said, "Naruto, go look for Hinata, I'm gonna catch us some dinner and set some seals around the area."

"Yes, Sensei!" Naruto replied as he and his mother went off in different directions to complete their tasks. Walking in the direction where Hinata had gone Naruto looked for any indications of her whereabouts as the night sky finally took over and covered the forest in a blanket of darkness out up by the stars and moonlight.

 _'Ugh, gotta pee.'_ Naruto realized as he went towards a bush he made sure didn't have any animals as he relieved himself. Zipping his pants up Naruto looked for any sign of the blue-haired Hyuuga. Just as he was about to give up and head back to camp Naruto heard the sound of water falling. Following the sound to its source, Naruto found himself at the rocky edge of a pond, not noticing a pair of wood and neatly folded clothes behind some rocks as he became mesmerized by the sight he saw.

The small pond glowed light blue from the moonlight, and while it looked beautiful, that wasn't what took his breath away. Standing under the waterfall was the silhouette of what he could say looked like the most beautiful women he had ever seen. She had her hands behind her head as she washed her hair, her impressive breasts stuck out while her butt looked well rounded and large. But then she spun under the waterfall as she moved out of it, create for a moment what appeared to be a light blue sphere around her as her body spun beautifully before stopping.

Naruto had to talk to this person, walking from his spot he stepped on the rocks, not noticing how slippery they were as he called out to the women, "Hey! Excuse me-" He began before he slipped on the rock and fell into the water, not noticing the women quickly disappearing.

Getting up Naruto looked around for the person, "Hey hello? You there?" He called out but got no response, "Maybe I just imagined it." He said as he left the pond.

Behind a nearby tree, Hinata breathed out heavily, hand to her chest as she thought, _'Gods that was close'_   Before quickly drying herself off and heading back to camp.

* * *

Kushina entered the campsite with the corpse of a red fox, it wasn't much but it could last them for the night. As she set the animal down she saw Hinata return with some firewood.

"Hey there Hinata, set that wood down here, where's Naruto? I set him to look for you." Kushina stated to the blue-haired girl.

Hinata turned bright red in response, "Uh, uh-" She stammered out, confusing the red hair Jonin. But before Kushina could ask more Naruto showed up from the forest, and he was clothes were a bit wet.

Hands on her hips Kushina gave her son a confused look, "Naruto? What happened to you?" She asked.

"So Kaasan I was looking for Hinata and then I found this pond and under it was some…" Naruto began to explain, trying to find the right word to describe who he saw.

"Somewhat?" Kushina questioned, curious as to what he saw.

"A goddess." Naruto finished, feeling that was the best word to use.

"A goddess?" Kushina wondered, but then she heard the sound of wood being dropped. Looking at Hinata, Kushina noticed how tense up she was, and she also saw that her hair was a bit wet.

 _'Ohhhh.'_ Kushina though as she realized who this _goddess_ was, but she needed to know if Naruto had figured it out.

"Did you speak to this goddess?" She asked, to which Naruto just shook his head in disappointment.

"I tried but then I slipped on some rocks and fell into the pond, and when I looked up she was gone." Naruto explained, disappointed clearly on his face, taking a look back at Hinata she saw her face red.

' _Thankfully he seems not to know, if they both knew what happened they wouldn't be able to look each other in the face. Plus since Hinata's still somewhat shy I wouldn't want one of her better relationships to be damaged, she was always close with Naruto and I if he doesn't know it was her she will probably be able to get over the embarrassment.'_ Kushina thought.

"Well then let's get to cooking! And Naruto, go put on some dry clothes." Kushina said, the sooner they moved away from that subject and focus on something else, the better.

* * *

It's had been a couple of hours since the trio went to sleep, and Naruto quietly got up from his sleeping bag, making sure as to not disturb the two other women in the tent as he made his way outside.

 _'Man those early morning alarms really helped.'_ Naruto thought as he prepared for the day, he had decided to wake up a little earlier to work on his chakra control. But he needed some help, focusing his mind he tried calling out to the Kyuubi, he was never able to go to that landscape in his mind by himself, but with the way she seemed to be warming up to him, he hoped she would answer his call.

 ** _"What?"_** A voice rang out in his head, Naruto smirking to himself that she answered her call.

 _'Can you please help me with my chakra control.'_ Naruto asked, trying to give the best pleading sound he could to a thought.

 _ **"Why would you need my help? Don't you have that Hyuuga girl to help?"**_ The Kyuubi question, and for some reason Naruto felt like he heard a ting of jealousy in her voice but decided to ignore it.

' _You helped me learn the Multi-shadow clone Jutsu so I thought maybe you could help with this.'_ He told her.

 _ **"I helped you learn that Jutsu cause it was beneficial to me as well at the time, what do I get from this? Helping my container get stronger, doesn't seem great to me."**_ The Kyuubi replied with an annoyed tone.

 _'Well I guess if you look at it like that but,'_ Naruto began to say

 ** _"But what?"_** The Kyuubi questioned.

Deciding it was best to say how he felt Naruto hoped that his words would have the desired effect, _'I had hoped it might help us get to know each other, as much as I don't want you to hate me and be free to live your life, I don't want to die from letting you go and risk something bad happening, and, it might help us bond, we'll probably be together for most of my life, and I don't think any of us are gonna enjoy that experience by just being grumpy with each other. So let's try and help each other out and be friends." N_ aruto explained, but all he got was a silent replied, nothing, feeling defeated that he may have pushed things a bit too far with the Nine-tailed fox. Just as he was about to give up on her help and train by himself he got a reply.

 ** _"Fine_ _."_ ** The voice simply said in his head, and Naruto could barely contain the smile on his face.

* * *

Kushina gave a yawn as she awoke, Hinata getting up with her, looking around the tent, the two of them noticed Naruto wasn't inside with them. Both of them walked outside to look for him, Kushina starting to get a bit worried not knowing where her son was.

"Hinata." Kushina said, Hinata getting what she meant immediately and activated her Byakugan, before turning her head towards up towards the tree in front of them. Following her movements, Kushina looked at the top of the tree and saw Naruto on top of it.

"Morning Kaasan! Morning Hinata nee-chan!" The young Genin said as he waved at the two of them, Hinata just gave a bright smile back and waved, while Kushina placed a hand on her hip with a pleasant smirk, watching as Naruto made his way down the tree by walking down, showing he had mastered the technique. Walking up to them Naruto had his hands behind his head, a bright smile on his face.

"So?" He asked his Mother, wanting to know how she thought of his progress.

Kushina just smiled at her son, pulling him into a tight hug, accidentally pushing him into her breast, but she didn't really care, "I'm proud of you my little student, good job." She told him, ruffling his hair a bit as he pulled away embarrassed like any kid would be when a parent got too affectionate with their child in front of other people. The three of them now preparing for the day as they went to get breakfast ready.

* * *

The trio were now walking towards their destination as the sun showed that it was noon, at their current pace they should reach their destination by the end of the day, so they didn't need to rush. But on their way there the three of them noticed a village off the road, and it looked, _desolate_ , not to mention it appeared a bit destroyed.

"Kaasan?" Naruto asked, trusting his sensei to know what to do.

"Hinata, scan the area." Kushina ordered to the Chunin.

"Right." She replied, closing her eyes as her veins near her eye became visible before opening them once more. "I don't sense anyone, it appears, _abandoned_ , though it looks like there was some fight, the center of the village appears to be a bit destroyed." Hinata explained, deactivating her Kekkei Genkai.

Thinking of the situation Kushina decided it would be best to check the area, "We'll enter the village and survey the area, stay close to each other and make sure not to set off any potential traps, we don't know what may have happened here.

"Yes, Sensei."

"Yes, Kushina-san."

The trio made their way to the village, looking for any clues of what may have happened. The three of them could only feel some sort of dread cover the area, whatever happened here was recent. But as Kushina reached the center of the town she noticed a crater situated in the area, taking a closer look she saw a trail coming out of it, a snake-like trail.

 _'No!'_ , Quickly panicking Kushina turned to her Naruto and Hinata, "We need to get out of here now! Hinata carry Naruto and get back on the route at full speed!" She ordered.

"Got it!" Hinata replied, grabbing the young genin by the waist before he had a chance to question what was going on, jumping on the rooftops back towards the route with him in tow. Normally she would've been a bit embarrassed carrying someone like this, but from the tone in Kushina's voice Hinata knew she had to ignore them.

Tailing behind them Kushina hoped for the best, ' _Please don't let him be here, I don't know if I can protect Naruto and Hinata from him.'_ She thought, but as they were almost at the edge of town she noticed two figures in the distance, one of them extend their arms. "Take cover!" Kushina exclaimed. The three of them landed behind a house to take cover, but as they looked up the sky was covered in cover by snakes, and they were diving at them.

Stepping in front of them Hinata brought a hand to her head level and made a seal, activating her Byakugan as she screamed "Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!".

Naruto could barely make out the movements of her arms as they moved faster than he could see, threads of Chakra coming out from her hand as it surrounded them in a spherical blue aura.

"Keep that barrier up " Kushina stated as Hinata nodded in response. Kushina pulled a scroll out her pouch, unclasping it she smeared some blood on the seal it had on the inside, a sword now appearing in her hand as she got into a stance ready to swing it.

"When I say now, drop it and cover Naruto." Kushina said.

"Right!" Hinata replied.

"Now!" Kushina exclaimed as Hinata stopped her movements and dived towards Naruto, covering him with her body. Kushina coated her blade in chakra before giving it a quick swing towards the snakes, cutting them down in an instant as their sliced bodies fell around them.

Naruto barely knew how to react to the situation, he could tell that this was serious, but he had never seen a real battle like this up close. He could feel that if one thing went wrong, they would die.

"My my, impressive, though I don't think I could expect less from the Wife of the Hokage and the _former_ heiress of the Hyuuga clan." A voice eerily rang out, focusing their attention to the source Naruto saw a very pale looking man, the area around his goldish stilted eyes coated in some purple marking while he had a thick purple rope belt tied in a large knot behind his back. Next to him stood a young man with onyx eyes covered by black rimmed circular glasses while his hair ash-grey.

"Orochimaru." Kushina stated, causing Naruto to gain a shocked expression at knowing who their attacker was.

"Hehe." The man simply sounded out, and Naruto started to regret not getting a D-rank mission as his Mother and Orochimaru stared each other down, ready to battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty intense for a first mission huh? Next Chapter gonna have some fight scenes plus the introductions of some Characters to help flesh this world out a bit, also a bit more fluff as well. Till next time, thanks for reading!


	3. Strength

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ay there so it seems I gotta clear up some things. This is a harem story. While we wil be following Naruto's journey, his relationship with some of the girls will be a forefront. As for who he'll end up with I think you guys can figure that out. So now that's its cleared up onto the chapter!

Kushina gave a strong face as she looked up at her enemies, shielding her two teammates from his gaze, _'_ _This isn't good, I'm still a bit rusty and I don't know what he's been up to. He could have new techniques we aren't aware of, and I don't know if I can protect those two from both of them.'_ Kushina thought, quickly thinking of ways to deal with the situation before landing on her best option at the moment.

Still looking up at her enemies Kushina spoke to Naruto and Hinata, "You two need to get out of here as fast as you can and go to our destination, tell the people there of the situation, I'll hold them off."

Both of them were shocked at their captain's plan.

"But Kaasan-"

"Kushina-san-"

They both began to say before the Jonin cut them off.

"Don't argue, listen to what I say, I can't protect you both from him and fight at the same time." Kushina stated.

But Naruto couldn't accept it, "Kaasan I won't leave you! What would Dad and Naruko say if I left!" Naruto insisted.

"Don't argue with me Naruto! They'll understand," Turning her head to him Kushina gave him a bright smile, "Don't worry, I'll be fine, and when this is all over, we'll get some ramen together, ok?" She reassured.

Naruto felt his face scrunched up, as much as he hated it he had to follow his mother's orders, "You better be right!" Naruto shouted as he began to run away from the area, Hinata about to follow before Kushina spoke to her.

"Hinata, protect Naruto." She simply asked.

"Got it!" Hinata reassured her before running off at Naruto.

After they were out of view Kushina looked up to face her opponents, assuming a battle stance.

"My my we can't let those them just get away, you'll all make marvelous test subjects." Orochimaru sneered before turning to his companion, "Kabuto?"

"I'll capture them at once Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto declared before he jumped from his position towards the two fleeing ninja.

"Oh no, you won't!" Kushina exclaimed as she jumped towards him, ready to swing her blade, but just as she was about to she felt her momentum stop. Looking behind her she saw her leg was wrapped around by some snakes who trailed down to Orochimaru's arm.

Waving his finger teasingly at her he said, "Uh uh huh, I'm your opponent."

Kushina gritted her teeth, she wouldn't be able to help her team, hoping they could protect themselves as she cut the snakes up around her leg before rushing at the Legendary Sannin.

* * *

Hinata finally caught up to Naruto as they ran towards the edge of the town, Hinata was impressed by his speed as he jumped from building to building, she may have been able to easily keep pace, but he was fast for a genin. As she got closer she saw the concern on his face.

"Don't worry, your mom is a strong shinobi, she'll be fine, we have to make sure we escape and get help." Hinata reassured him.

"I know, it's just, I may not know much about that guy, but if there's one person I don't want anybody I care for to face, it's him, I've heard about how awful he is." Naruto stated, he may not have known much, but he remembered learning about how Orochimaru planned to sabotage the Chunin Exams a couple of years ago, and how his sister's team faced him in the forest of death, he remembers how shaken up she looked when she came home. Luckily his Father and some others were able to drive him out before he was able to unleash his full-scale attack on the village, though he did remember hearing something about some giant monster battle involving a toad and some sand-like tanooki outside the village.

Hinata gave him a solemn look as they were almost at the edge of the town, but just as they were about to make it out they heard the sound of wood snapping behind them, turning around they saw Kabuto chasing them.

Assume the gentle fist stance Hinata shouted, "Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!", extending her open palm a gust of wind blowing towards Kabuto's direction which he dodged before running up at the Hyuuga, his hands covered in a coat of Chakra as he jabbed at her.

"Ugh!" Hinata grunted as she barely dodged the attack, standing in front of Naruto to protect him.

Readjusting his glasses Kabuto looked at the girl, "Long time no see Hinata, you've changed."

Hinata just took a step back, making sure to Naruto was more guarded against the enemy in front of them, "I have nothing to say to you." She stated, remember how Kabuto tricked her and all of the other Leaf members during the Chunin exams.

Kabuto proceeded to give a light sigh as he said in a mocking tone, "I guess talking is no good, oh what a shame, though we'll have all the time to reminisce on lost time when we capture you both." His gaze landing on Naruto who could only give a shiver as he pulled a Kunai out and assumed a battle stance, giving the best display of courage he could.

"You won't lay a finger on him." Hinata declared, her stance becoming fiercer.

"We'll see about that." Kabuto said as he and Hinata rushed towards each other.

Naruto watched the battle unfold in front of him, both of their hands had covered in Chakra. They each jabbed at each other, barely dodging or deflecting each other's attack, a quick blue mist enveloping the area of attacks before being blown away by the other blows.

Each of them knew that one hit from the other could end the battle, Hinata's gentle fist could block his Chakra points or Kabuto's chakra scalpels severing her muscles. But as they continued to evade each other's attack Kabuto could tell Hinata was getting tired, not to mention she was more focused on making sure he didn't get near Naruto instead of protecting herself. And just than Hinata made a mistake, she tried to kick him.

Seeing his chance Kabuto quickly brought his hand below her leg before she could have a chance to retract it he jabbed at her shin.

"Ahh!" Hinata screamed out in pain, falling on her back as the pain momentarily overwhelmed her, losing feeling in her lower left leg.

"It's over!" Kabuto shouted as he stood over her, his hand about to jab at her chest as Hinata closed her eyes from the incoming impacted.

"Don't you touch her!" Naruto screamed as he jumped at Kabuto and punched him straight in the face, making him fly back a bit before landing on his feet, rubbing his sore cheek as Hinata stared wide-eyed at her savior.

Facing the genin, Kabuto sneered at him, "You really think you can protect her?"

"Naruto run! You can't beat him!" Hinata urged as she feared for the boy's life.

Standing in front of her Naruto just remained in his position before replying, "I'm not leaving you too! You protected me! I'll protect you!" He exclaimed before shouting "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!", a couple of dozen of Naruto now appearing in a puff of smoke, all ready to charge.

Kabuto smirked at the sight, "So the rumors are true, you can use the Jutsu, Lord Orochimaru will definitely be happy with you captured. Now then, let's see if you can actually stay true to your words."

"Charge!" Naruto commanded as he and the rest of his clones rushed the medical ninja.

Kabuto scoffed as the clones tried to attack, they may have impressive technique for anyone to learn, but at his level they were child's play, cutting them down with the swipe of his hand, their numbers quickly dwindling.

The original Naruto gritted his teeth, _'Damn it, I don't know enough about this guy to make a plan. Think Naruto think, he seems to specialize in some sort of close combat with those techniques of him, so just attack from a distance and see if that works!'_

"Fall back and fire!" Naruto order as he and clones jumped back and reached into their pouches, pulling out some shirikuns before throwing them at Kabuto. Who only smirked as he grabbed two nearby clones who didn't get away fast enough, using them as shields as they were riddled with shurikens, puffing away before assuming a stance.

"Needle shots!" Kabuto shouted, extending his arms as dozens of small needle like threads of chakra shot out of his hands, embedding themselves in his clones as they dispersed. A couple of them headed in Hinata's direction, but as she tried to get up and dodge her leg throbbed as it refused to move, leaving her a sitting duck as the attack came closer. Raising her hands up in an attempt to protect herself two of Naruto clones threw themselves in front of her, shielding her body with their owns as they disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Ha, pathetic!" Kabuto exclaimed as he rushed towards the remaining Naruto, ready to end the battle.

"It's not over yet!" Naruto stated as he reached into his bag and pulled out a Fuma Shuriken and unfolded it before throwing it at Kabuto.

"Have to do better than that!" Kabuto taunted as he jumped over the projectile, not noticing the smirk Naruto gave.

Just as he was halfway over the shuriken, Kabuto was shocked when it transformed in a puff of smoke into another Naruto, "What!?" He gasped.

"Take this!" The clone shouted as he slashed side of Kabuto's leg, making him grunt in pain as he landed roughly, rolling towards Naruto who quickly made 3 other clones before rushing at his defenseless state.

"Na-" One exclaimed as it punched him in the face making him stay in place for a moment.

"Ru-" One shouted as it kicked him up.

"To-" Another yelled as it kneed him to even greater heights, looking up he saw the last Naruto prepare an axe kick above him.

"Uzumaki Barrage!" He declared, dropping his heel on the back of Kabuto's head, sending him crashing down hard enough for a small crater to form where he landed.

Landing back down Naruto could only bring his hands up in victory, turning to Hinata he had a proud smile on his face from his achievement.

_'No way, Naruto took Kabuto down?'_ Hinata thought, not knowing whether or not what she just saw actually happened, but before she could question it further Kabuto's body was enveloped in a cloud of smoke.

"What!?" Naruto gasped as the smoke cleared and instead of Kabuto, a log was now placed.

"Naruto, behind you!" Hinata warned as Naruto turned around and saw Kabuto ready to hit him with a hand covered in chakra.

"Got to hand it to you kid, you're good." Kabuto praised as he brought his hand up, "But you still can't beat me.", bringing his hand down Naruto had no time to dodge, stumbling back he fell, his body frozen in fear as he shut his eyes and brought his hand up to protect himself.

But he didn't feel the attack hit, opening his eyes he saw Hinata on top of him, her body shielding him as she looked down at him, blood dripping out of her mouth as Kabuto had his hand pierced through her back. But even so, Hinata just looked at him with a bright smile before her eyes closed as she fell on top of him, not moving as Kabuto retracted his hand from her insides, looking in disgust at his blood-soaked hand.

"Ugh, how disappointing, Lord Orochimaru won't be pleased with this." Kabuto stated as he shook his hand to get most of the blood off before drying it with his clothes, ignoring the pleas Naruto gave to Hinata.

"Hinata! Come on Hinata get up! You can't die! What about your family! Naruko! Me!" Naruto cried as he shook the older girl, not getting a response as tears filled his eyes.

"Might as well finish the job." Kabuto said as he walked towards the two of them, bring his hand up for another attack he brought it down at the two of them. But before he could even react they were gone, "What?" Shocked he looked around he saw the two of them on top of one of the neighboring rooftops. Kabuto observed Naruto gently place Hinata down before he turned to face him, his usual bright blue eyes now replaced by slitted red.

* * *

Naruto found himself in the Kyuubi's layer, as her voice called out to him.

" **Boy, _co_** _me_ here." She said as she transformed into her human-like state.

Naruto did as he was told, walking towards the cage, mind too fuzzy to question why.

"Give me your hand." She ordered, and he did so without any resistance, his arm sliding through the bar as she took hold of it with her own hand. And Naruto couldn't help but take note how gentle and warm her touch felt.

"I will help you take him down, let's give him hell." She declared as Naruto felt power surging through him, one objective on his mind, make that man pay.

* * *

Kushina clashed her blade with Orochimaru's, who she couldn't help but be disgusted as he took it out of his mouth. Never mind how powerful he was, even if they were allies he always made her skin shiver.

Cutting up some snakes that surrounded her Kushina became worried, _'He's either toying with me or has something planned cause he's not showing his full power.'_

But before she could dwell on it any further the two of them momentarily forgot about their battle as they each felt a bone-chilling wind blow past them as a malicious chakra was felt.

"My my, I didn't expect this." Orochimaru stated as he took a moment to feel the chakra, licking his lips in delight

But Kushina had a panicked look on her face as she knew what was happening, _'_ _Don't tell me the seal has been broken! No, it's just leaking out, but what happened for Naruto for it to have weakened?'_ She thought as she was about to move towards Naruto direction before having to back off due to Orochimaru's attack.

"Now why should we get in their way? It'd be much more interesting if we let them continue their battle, don't you agree?" He sarcastically asked with a twisted smirk.

Kushina felt her blood boiling, she was gonna end this battle and go protect her son.

* * *

Kabuto took a ready stance as he watched his opponent slightly transform, his hair became spiked, whiskers thickened, and nails sharpened as a light reddish orange chakra enveloped his body.

_'According to our Intel, this should be the first case we know of him entering this state. Compared to his sister it's not nearly as strong, but I shouldn't take this lightly. I don't know how much his changed, not to mention his mind probably only has an objective of killing me.'_ Kabuto surmised as he quickly healed his injuries as to not impede his movements.

Than Naruto crouched down, legs bending as he leaned forward before taking off towards his opponent, the rooftop below him cracking with each of his steps. Kabuto barely dodged his first swipe as quickly kneed him in the stomach from the side, sending him flying a couple of feet in the opposite direction.

Kabuto took a moment to smirk at his counter-attack. He realized that while Naruto's physical abilities may have increased, his movements were simple and predictable. As long as he kept calm and didn't leave any openings he'd be fine. Dodging another of his attacks before giving him a chakra covered jab to the knee. But to his surprise Naruto didn't seem to react to his attack, simply shrugging before giving Kabuto kick that sent him flying another roof away, barely cushioning the blow with an arm.

_'So when he's in that stat_ e _my attacks don't have an effect.'_ Kabuto thought, but then he noticed the Jinchuuriki have a slight limp in his leg, mostly ignoring it but still there. _'No my attacks do have an effect, they just aren't immediate, I just have to wear him down a bit and it'll eventually leave an opening big enough for me to finish it.'_

Now having a plan Kabuto and Naruto rushed into battle, in order to execute his plan Kabuto had to get in close and take some hits, his body becoming riddled with cuts. But for every scratch Naruto landed, Kabuto returned with a chakra covered jab to some part of his body. But after one of hits Naruto reacted much faster than Kabuto predicted, giving him a particularly deep cut across his stomach before giving him a powerful kick which sent him flying into the side of a house, creating a creator on the wall where he hit as he laid on the ground, coughing up some blood as he tried to get up fast enough.

But then he saw Naruto begin to rush him, clearly intending to slam him with everything he had, _'Shit, can't get up in time!'_

But just as he was almost on top of him Naruto suddenly lost his momentum, his leg giving way as all of Kabuto's attacks finally caught up to him, making him crash into the ground as his red chakra dispersed leaving him defenseless.

Kabuto gave a sigh of relief as he closed up his wounds, making sure to have a mental note of cleaning them up more properly soon as he walked over to the passed out Genin, "You may not be able to move, but I can't take any chances." He stated as he was about to strike Naruto.

"Chidori!"

Kabuto barely dodged the attack, jumping away a black haired man now stood over the boy defensively, his hand enveloped in lighting as he stared at Kabuto with red eyes.

"Sasuke, I didn't expect to see here." Kabuto stated, talking to buy time for his wounds to heal more.

"Same here, but when Kakashi and I felt some familiar chakra sources in the area we rushed over here, now why don't you just surrender." Sasuke declared as he took his long blade with his right hand, ready to cut down Kabuto if he attacked.

"Unfortunately I'll have to decline, see you another time." Kabuto said as he leaped away back towards Orochimaru.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, as much as he'd like to go after him he had to make sure Naruto and Hinata were ok, sheathing his blade he crouched down and picked up the boy before making his way to the unconscious Hyuuga.

* * *

Kushina tried to move but her body was restricted, body parts constricted by Orochimaru's snakes.

"My my, how disappointing, I expected more from someone of your status, though I guess you are a bit rusty." Orochimaru taunted, having his snakes squeeze harder around her before bringing out a much larger one to consume the Jonin.

"Now then don't worry, he won't eat you, just keep you contained long enough to take you to one of my labs." He stated as the snake opened its jaws, Kushina closed her eyes and braces herself.

"Lightning Blade!"

Suddenly the snake was sliced in half along with the snakes constricting Kushina. Taking the chance Kushina jumped away, a whites haired man landing next to her.

"Sorry for not getting here sooner Kushina-san." Kakashi apologized.

"No problem, you saved me just in time." Kushina thanked as they both took a battle stance against their opponent.

"Oh what a problem, as much as I would like to take you all in I don't think I have enough time to do that." Orochimaru solemnly said as Kabuto landed next to him.

"Lord Orochimaru I fear it is in our best interest to retreat for now. " He stated.

"I agree, it was fun you two but I'm afraid we'll have to take our leave now." Orochimaru said as he and Kabuto disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving no trace.

Kushina gave a sigh of relief as they disappeared, she turned to Kakashi, "Thank you for showing up, he had me there for a bit."

"No problem Kushina-san, we came over as soon as we felt the massive amount of Chakra coming from the area." Kakashi replied.

Kushina gave a gasp as she realized who it was that brought their attention here, "Naruto!"

* * *

When Naruto opened his eyes the first thing he saw was a ceiling, realizing he was inside somewhere he slowly brought himself up, grunting as he felt multiple parts of his body aching.

"So you're finally awake, huh?"

Turning his head to the voice Naruto noticed Sasuke sitting at the other side of the room, looking at him with a blank expression.

"Sasuke Nii-san? Ugh, how long was I out?"

"About two days. Long time no see, huh? Finally a genin, congratulations, your sister must be proud." Sasuke congratulated, a small proud smile on his face.

"Uh, thanks." Naruto replied.

"Still, I know you're talented, but it seems like this mission was a bit more than you could take, especially since you met those monsters." Sasuke stated, his face turning into disgust at the thought of those two.

Getting who he was talking about Naruto's face looked down at the sheet with a defeated expression, "Yeah, we came across an abandoned village, and before I knew it we were under attack, seeing the fight up close I felt useless, and even when I tried to fight back, I just put myself in harm's way, getting Hinata-" Remembering what had happened to Hinata, Naruto's face turned into one of anxious fear as he looked at Sasuke.

"Hinata! Is she alright!? Where is she!?" Naruto anxious asked.

Sasuke put a hand up to calm him down before pointing it towards next of Naruto, following the direction Naruto looked to his side and saw on another bed next to him was Hinata, face bandaged up like his but sleeping peacefully.

Naruto gave a sigh of relief as Sasuke said, "You both were pretty hurt, but luckily both of your injuries weren't life-threatening enough and you each got medical attention in time. You should each be completely recovered in a few days."

"Thank goodness." Naruto said, relieved she was ok.

Just then the door opened up and in came three people.

"Yo, Naruto." Kakashi greeted,

"Hey, Kakashi oni-chan." Naruto replied with a smile before one of the other figures suddenly flew in front of him, giving him a breath-taking hug.

"Kaasan...can't...breath" Naruto tried to say as Kushina loosened the hug before a scolding look came on her face.

"Do you know how worried I was young man?" Kushina told him, anger but also worry in her voice.

"Sorry." Naruto apologized, getting just how worried she was for him.

"It's alright, you're fine now, just don't scare me like that again." Kushina reassured him before Naruto realized who the last figure in the was.

"Touchan?" Naruto question as he looked at his father.

"Hey there Naruto, glad to see you're OK." Minato said as he walked over to his son, giving him a pat on his head.

Seeing that Naruto was still confused as to why Minato was here Kushina decided to explain, "You know that scroll we were supposed to deliver?", to which Naruto nodded his head, "Well we were supposed to deliver it to your Father."

"Ohh." Naruto replied.

But than Minato's face turned a bit more serious, turning to Kakashi and Sasuke he gestured them to leave the room for a bit which both followed. Turning his attention back to his son Minata needed to ask some questions.

"Naruto, what do you remember about the fight?" Minato asked, Kushina adopting a similar look as her husband when she realized they were going to do this now.

Scratching his head a bit Naruto answered his Father's question, "Well after those two guys showed up Hinata and I ran away out of the village until that guy named Kabuto stopped us. Hinata and he fought but eventually he landed a solid blow on him, I tried to protect her but left myself open, and Hinata took-" he paused for a second, remembering the image of Hinata on top of him, shielding him from the blow, grasping the covers tight as Minato and Kushina looked at their son with an apologetic face, "She took the hit for me, then, than everything else is fuzzy, I just remember being. Angry." Naruto finished.

Minato and Kushina looked at each other and nodded, knowing what they had to ask next.

"Naruto, have you ever felt like that before?" Kushina questioned

"Not like that, but I'm guessing it had something to do with the Kyuubi, right?" Naruto replied, he knew some of the things that came with being a Jinchuriki. But he knew he was different, never expecting to have power like his sister wielded.

Minato nodded, "It would appear so, you've told us you've sometimes been in contact with the Kyuubi before, correct?"

Naruto nodded, he remembers the first time he ran up to his parents after finding himself face to face with the Kyuubi in her beast form, and she definitely expressed her hatred for him during that first meeting.

"Yeah, before it would happen occasionally, she would call me, but I've been bettering my relationship with her, and now sometimes I can talk to her in my thoughts. Though that's only if she chooses to respond." Naruto told them, Minato and Kushina knew that Naruto had tried to be friendly with the beast, but they always warned him to be vigilant, as there wasn't much they could do to stop them from communicating.

Kushina got closer to Naruto, her face inches from his as she said, "Naruto, this might be a little strange but trust me." She said before turning to Minato, "I'll watch you both and make sure nothing gets out of control." He stated.

Naruto nodded to his Mother, trusting her complete as she slightly pulled his shirt up, placing a hand on his bandaged cover stomach before gripping it slightly with her fingers. Naruto felt a bit sleepy, as Kushina rested his forehead against her's as she said, "Just relax, Naruto."

And he did, Naruto closed his eyes and everything went black.

* * *

When Naruto opened his eyes he realized he was in the Kyuubi's layer, looking at the cage he noticed she was in her beast form, and she looked a little unhappy with her facial expression. Before he could ask what was wrong the Kyuubi spoke.

**"What brings you here, Kushina?"** She asked, causing Naruto to look at his side and his Mom standing next to him, a blank expression on her face.

"It's been a while Kyuubi, I never thought I had to see you again. But after recent events, you seemed to have acted up in my son." Kushina stated.

The Kyuubi ticked at the statement, **"For your information, I helped the boy, you should be grateful I didn't take full control of him."**

"And that's why I'm here, why? You had a chance, but you didn't take it." Kushina asked.

**"Why would I? As much as I hate being trapped inside of him, taking control of him during that situation wouldn't have benefited me enough to justify the power needed to do, where would I go? The rest of my power is stuck inside of your daughter and without it, being set free would make me only a shell of my full self, a mind without a body so to speak."** She stated.

But Kushina smirked, walking forward towards the cage she said, "Maybe, but I feel there is another reason."

**"And what would that reason be?"** The Kyuubi asked,

"Come down to my level and I'll tell you." Kushina teased, making the Kyuubi growl as she transformed into her human-like state before walking to the other side of the cage bars. As they stood face to face Naruto took note to how similar they looked in body shape, though the Kyuubi was still around an inch taller with more defined curves than his mother had at the moment as she was still wearing her Jonin outfit.

Smiling at the Kyuubi, Kushina told her what she thought, "I think you're warming up to Naruto, aren't you?"

The Kyuubi was caught off a bit off guard at the statement, noticing Naruto was too before she growled threateningly at him before turning her face back at her former host. "I don't hate him, but don't think I like him either." She stated defensively.

"Sure sure, I'm just glad you're finally warming up, maybe eventually you two could call each other friends, though that still might take a while." Kushina teased before turning to Naruto and placing a hand on his shoulder as she said, "Let's go." The two of them disappearing as the Kyuubi just gave an annoyed sigh.

"Not like I actually like him." She stated before returning to her beast form to rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. My first real fight scene so I hope it was enjoyable to read. Plus I hope you guys like my little version of Sasuke as well, wanted him to be in the story but didn't want to have him under Orochimaru or a villain. Also just to give a heads up no new Chapter next week. I've decided for now that this story will release a new chapter every week for 3 weeks before taking a week break for me to upload a chapter for one of my other story before coming back. This gives me some breathing room for this story as I'm really trying to put a lot of effort into it. But don't worry cause Chapter 4 is gonna be a good amount of Fan-service so if that's your thing I hope it'll be enjoyable.


	4. Walking on Water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hey, alot of fanservice this chapter with little story progression, this is also where I'm starting to really use that M-rating and start to bring this little harem together so I hope you enjoy.

" _*Huff *Huff*,_ that was, great Kushina." Minato praised as he rolled off her, his wife's naked form snuggled up with him as they pulled over the covers, giving him a peck on the cheek from the compliment.

"You were lovely too, Minato." She replied, after her and Naruto's talk with the Kyuubi, Hinata had awoken, much to the relief of all of them, especially Naruto who gave her a hug, before they both winced together from their wounds. It was late in the night now and Minato stated to the three he would personally teleport them back in the morning before the peace talks.

But after Husband and Wife entered their private room Kushina felt the need for a quicky. Their sex life has unfortunately been a bit dry for a while so each of them jumped at the chance for some action. And while it was enjoyable for the both of them, Kushina couldn't help but feel a bit, will not unsatisfied, but that something was missing. Even so, she decided it wasn't something she needed to worry about and took the chance to just enjoy the warmth of her Husband they fell asleep.

* * *

"You guys aren't coming back with us?" Naruto asked Kakashi and Sasuke, who both shook their heads.

"No, Orochimaru might still be around the area, and we can't let him disturb the peace talks if he tries anything." Kakashi explained as Naruto, Kushina, and Hinata were about to leave. Hinata using a crutch to walk as her leg wasn't completely healed yet.

"Fine." Naruto huffed, while he got why they had to stay, he never did like how little they were in the Village.

"Hey, Naruto," Sasuke called out to the boy who turned to him, "Say hi to Sakura and your Sister for me." He asked.

"You got it!" Naruto promised as he gave the Uchiha a thumbs up.

"Well, it's time to take you all home, hold onto my hand." Minato said as he held it out.

Grabbing on to it Naruto gave Sasuke and Kakashi a wave before he and the rest disappeared.

* * *

Appearing in the living room of the Hokage's house everyone who wasn't Minato took a second to catch their breath, teleporting wasn't something they were used to.

"Stay safe you guys." Minato said as he waved goodbye before teleporting to the peace talks.

"Touchan?" The trio heard as they looked upstairs, seeing Naruto look down at them in confusion.

"What are you guys doing here? And was that Dad I heard?" Naruko asked.

"Yes honey, we just came back from a mission to deliver a scroll to your Father before he gave us a lift back." Kushina explained to her daughter.

As Naruko gave a bit in understanding she noticed the bandages her Brother and Best Friend had on their face, "What happened to you two!?" Naruko shouted as she rushed down to take a closer look at them, Naruto and Hinata mentally sweating in preparation for what they knew would happen.

* * *

"Nee-chan-"

"Naruko-"

"can't breath." Naruto and Hinata tried to say as Naruko gave them both a bear hug after hearing what happened to them. But Naruko didn't seem to hear them as she continued her crushing hug.

"Honey, I think that's enough." Kushina stated as she put a hand on her daughter's should to calm her down and release the two poor souls.

Finally releasing the two of them Naruko gave each of them a glare which made them flinch as she put her hands on her hips, "You two better not do anything like that again? Understand?"

The Hyuuga and younger Uzumaki quickly nodded their heads at Naruko.

Kushina decided to change the subject, "So Hinata, will you be staying to eat with us?" She asked.

Hinata shook her head in an apologetic manner as she explained, "I'm sorry but I should get home, my clan is probably a bit worried as to where I am as I didn't tell them the full details if the mission."

"Oh what a shame, but remember you're always welcome to join us another time." Kushina stated as she walked into the kitchen to start dinner.

"Want me to help walk you home?" Naruko asked.

"That would be nice." Hinata replied before turning to look at Naruto, who appeared to want to say something.

Deciding to give him a little reward, Hinata leaned forward towards the boy who, along with his sister, were curious as to what she was doing. Both giving a blush as Hinata lightly pressed her lips against one of Naruto cheeks before quickly pulling back and giving the boy a nervous smile.

"Thank you for protecting me!" Hinata quickly said before she turned around towards the door and began walking. Leaving Naruto dumbfounded, not noticing the proud yet teasing smirk his Sister gave him before catching up to Hinata, hearing a bit of what they said before they left.

_"Making moves on my little Brother, huh?"_

_"What!? No no! I just wanted to thank him for protecting me!"_

_"Yeah yeah."_

But before he could hear anymore the door to the house closed, and his Mother snapped him out of his trance as she called him into the kitchen for help.

* * *

The next day out in the training fields Kushina was having Naruto finish his current training as she stood on a tall tree, waiting for him to arrive.

"Come on Naruto! Almost there!" Kushina praised as Naruto jumped from tree to tree. Now that he learn how to properly control his chakra he could use it to jump tree to tree without worry of slipping. Plus once he mastered this they could move onto water walking.

As Naruto finally made it to the last tree Kushina had a bright smile on her face, her son was progressing extraordinarily fast. And seeing how much he was training Kushina decided it was time he had a break.

"I think that's enough for today, Naruto, let's get home and rest." Kushina said as she and Naruto headed back home.

 

* * *

Entering their home Kushina turned to Naruto, "How about you go take a dip in the hot springs."

"That sounds great, thanks Kaasan." Naruto thanked as he headed off to the basement to use the family's private hot spring. Not noticing the little smirk Kushina had on her face.

Sitting down in the water Naruto felt relaxed, the hot spring they had may not have been huge, but it was spacious enough. Plus the decorations it had really made you feel relaxed as it looked like you were outside at night in a lit up area. But as he felt his muscle aches start to fade away he suddenly tensed up at the sound of a familiar voice.

"Feels great, huh?" Kushina asked as she entered the room. Clad in a tight white towel that barely covered her modesty. Ending just below her butt, leaving most of her long slender legs out in the open along with a generous portion of the tip of her breasts. Getting in the water Kushina sat opposite of her son, a smile on her face as she laid back and enjoyed the relaxing water, resisting each of her hands on the floor behind her while swinging one of her legs over the other.

"Kaasan?" Naruto questioned, confused as to why his Mother was with him, doing his best to not to focus on her body.

"Hope you don't mind Naruto, I know it's been a while since we've had a bath together but I felt the need to take a dip as well. I know I can trust you to be with me, even if you are getting a bit older." Kushina stated as she gave her son a smile before closing her eyes and laying back.

Naruto just quietly submerged half of his head under water to hopefully hide the massive blush he had. He was torn on whether or not to leave then and there, not wanting to risk having his mother see his growing erection, but she also said she trusted him enough to be here with him and he didn't want to let him down. Deciding it was best to talk about something else than just sit in silent Naruto asked Kushina a question.

"Hey, Kaasan, what was it like when you were a Jinchuriki?" He asked, he didn't really know much about his mother's time as one.

"That's an interesting question to ask, before I answer can I asked why?" Kushina replied, an eyebrow raised questionably at her son.

"Well it's just, I know me and Naruko are different than most other Jinchuriki, so I wondered how." Naruto told her, Kushina took a moment to gather her thoughts for a proper answer.

"Well as you know, what makes you and your Sister so unique is that you each possess a different part of the Kyuubi, you have the soul while Naruko has the power. The reason for the split was because neither of you could handle the full power on your own, and Naruko gained the power of the Kyuubi was due to her body being more developed at the time. When I was Jinchuriki the practice was still new, and being only the 2nd Jinchurki of the Kyuubi it was unknown if the power could actually be controlled so my seal mostly restrained the Kyuubi, not allowing me to properly tap into her power with the risk of letting her free. You two, however, have a seal which could in time, allow you to tap into the Kyuubi's strength with training, but we still don't know as to what extent. Does that answer your question?" Kushina explained, to which Naruto nodded his head.

"Good, and since we're on the subject I think it's time you learn about the next step in your training." Kushina stated as she stood up and got out the hot tub, her soaked towel now clinging to her form which emphasized the curves she possessed.

"You've learned how to use Chakra steadily control the flow of Chakra you use, but now you'll learn how to change that flow at a much faster rate." Kushina stated with a hand on her hip.

"OK, but how will I do that?" Naruto asked, trying to focus on what she was saying and not what he was seeing.

"You'll learn how to do it by walking on water." Kushina said as she now placed her feet on the water before walking towards the center and looking down at her student.

"Walking on water? How is that different than when I learned to walk on trees?" Naruto questioned.

"Well, the difference is that when you walked on trees, it was a solid object and thus was much easier as all you really had to do was apply a steady chakra flow to stick. Water is different because it can constantly change, forcing you to quickly change the amount of chakra you discharge to keep your balance, as every movement you make shifts the water underneath your feet." Kushina explained as Naruto took all the information in.

"And if you become skilled enough, you can manipulate the water underneath a bit as well, helping your movement underwater, see?" Kushina stated as she slowly descended her body into the water while still keeping her straight posture as her feet reached the bottom of the spring.

"Hmm, I see." Naruto stated as he got out the water, making a seal he quickly brought chakra to the soles of his feet, placing a foot gently on the water's surface Naruto felt just how different it was to tree climbing. Relaxing, Naruto felt the water start to harden under his feet, putting more weight on it Naruto felt it hold.

 _'Impressive, he seems to understand the concept.'_ Kushina thought as she watched her son begin to take a step on the water, before the water giving way underneath and falling down with a splash. _'Than again this is still gonna take some time.'_

Watching Naruto come up from underwater gasping for air, before getting out with a determined look on his face, but not noticing he left something in the water.

Kushina's jaw dropped at the sight before she turned her head away and put a hand up to shield him from her eyes, "Uh, Naruto,"

Stopping his concentration Naruto replied, "Yeah Kaasan?" Confused as to why his Mom looking away from him.

"Your towel, sweetie." She simply said with an embarrassed blush on her face.

Looking down at himself Naruto realized his towel had fallen off leaving him in only his birthday suit, quickly covering himself up he jumped back in the water to retrieve the piece of cloth before wrapping it around his waist.

"Sorry, Kaasan." Naruto apologized as he sunk his red face under the water as he looked away.

"No problem sweetie, it was an accident." Kushina reassured him as she lowered her hand and gave him a smile, _'Was he hard? Even so, I didn't know he was packing something like that.'_ She thought as the two sat in silent.

* * *

As Naruko got out of bed surprisingly early she went downstairs to get something to eat, noticing her mother making breakfast.

"Morning, Kaasan." Naruko greeted as she sat down at the table for her food.

"Morning, Naruko. You're up early." Kushina replied as she set down some food for her daughter.

"I know, but honestly despite having a free day I don't feel like sleeping in." Naruko remarked as she took a bite out of her food.

"Well if you're doing nothing today do you think you can do me a favor?" Kushina asked as she finished making the rest of the food for herself and Naruto.

"Sure Kaasan, what is it?" Naruko replied.

"Do you think you can help Naruto train in water walking?" Kushina stated.

"Oh sure, but why me?" Naruko questioned.

"Well I thought it might be a good bonding experience for the two of you to train together, you know how much he looks up to you." Kushina explained as she set the food down.

"Hmm, ok than." Naruko said as Naruto finally got out of his room and came downstairs to eat.

"Morning Nee-chan, Kaasan." Naruto greeted as he sat down and dug into breakfast.

"Morning Naruto." They both replied.

"So Naruto, how would you about training with me?" Naruko asked.

"Really?" Naruto replied.

"Yeah, I'll help you with your water walking training and we'll do some combat training as well." Naruko told him.

"Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed, exciting for his training.

"Well, I'm glad you're excited, finish eating then get ready, and bring a bathing suit and towel since your gonna get soaked." Naruko advised.

"Got it!" Naruto exclaimed as he finished his food before heading upstairs to back.

"Well, I should get ready as well." Naruko stated as she finished her food before heading up to get ready as well.

"Have fun." Kushina said as she left, getting ready to take the day off.

* * *

"So where are we going, Nee-chan?" Naruto asked, a small bag on his back containing some extra clothing and supplies, the two of them where currently walking through a forest.

"A secluded spot just outside the village, it's where I learned water-walking with Pervy sage." Naruko stated.

"You learned it with Uncle Jiraiya? How was it?" Naruto asked, he always had fun whenever Jiraiya visited them, he was like a fun uncle that would take him on fun adventures.

"Tedious, he made me practice for hours, but luckily all that hard work paid off." Naruko told him as they came to a small clearing, a small river that got progressively deeper the further you went down along the soft rocky ground on either side.

"Here we are, now get into your bathing suit, don't wanna get your clothes wet like I did." Naruko said as she started to remove her jacket, Naruto doing the same.

Naruto wore simple orange swim trunks he had on under his clothes as he kicked them off. Looking to his side he saw Naruko take off her dark mesh shirt, revealing the orange bikini top she had underneath. It had no shoulder straps meaning it clung tightly around her sides to secure itself against her large breasts, a metal ring in the middle of the front of her top between her two beasts, showing off a generous amount of her cleavage, especially with the bright diamond like crystal necklace she had on resting right above them. Quickly bending down she also removed her black short shorts showing the tight bikini bottom underneath, a ring on each of her hips holding it together as it showed off her each of her leg in their entirety. But she wasn't done yet, bring her hands to her hair Naruko undid her twin-side ponytails, letting her hair fall down to its entirety, reaching her lower back. Turning to him she gave herself a twill, Naruto noticing how deep her bikini bottom sunk into her butt cheek, leaving a good chunk of them in the open, and despite how tight her top was, her breasts also jiggled with her movement as she stopped and placed a hand on her hip, flashing him a bright smile.

"So how do I look?" Naruko asked, giving a bit of a pose.

"Uh uh, you look great Nee-chan." Naruko stammered, looking away a bit to hide his blush.

"Aww, thanks, Naruto, been meaning to try out this new Swimsuit." Naruko said, noticing the little blush he had, finding it cute.

"Now why don't you show me your skills. The water over here should be shallow if for you to safely practice without your entire body falling in." Naruko stated as she took a towel down and spread it on the ground to lay on.

"Alright." Naruto replied as he walked towards the water surface, making a seal as he brought chakra to his feet, focusing as he placed a foot on the water, finding enough of a balance he slowly was able to lift his other foot halfway over before he lost his balance, putting his other foot down under the water just in time to catch himself.

"Not bad." Naruko praised, "Keep trying to get your other foot across, after enough tries you should be able to see what parts you're having the most trouble with."

Nodding back at her Naruto continued trying to get one foot across, always losing his balance at different points. Naruko noticed this and concluded that Naruto seemed to not be able to focus clearly on his shifting body weight causing his foot to slightly dip at an angle in the water making the force he was exerting on it push him off a bit. Getting up she slowly walked over to her little Brother, catching him by the arm just as he lost his balance once again.

"You need to focus on your balance." Naruko told him as she helped him up.

"Ugh I'm trying but whenever I change the amount of chakra I'm discharging the shift of my body weight also changes and then I gotta change my chakra discharge and it's too much to think of at once." Naruto complained, clearly frustrated as he brought his hands to his head, scratching widely through his hair.

"Look, I'll help you balance your body weight while you focus on the amount of Chakra you're discharging." Naruko said.

"Ok," Naruto replied, once again bringing chakra to his feet as he placed one on the water.

"Now just focus," Naruko said soothing, wrapping her slender arms around him as she pressed herself against his back to keep him balanced.

It took all of Naruto's willpower not to tense up from her touch, especially with her breasts pressed up against the back of his neck. But he was somehow able to move his other leg farther than ever before, not noticing the smile Naruko had on her face as he swore he heard a familiar sounding growl from somewhere. But before he could question its source he felt his other foot touch the water, now able to stand up on two feet on the water now.

"Great job, Naruto!" Naruko praised.

Naruto felt a rush pride at his achievement, so much so that he forgot about holding his chakra, causing him to slip past his sister's grip as his fell into the water below, Naruko laughing at his misfortune.

* * *

After hours of practicing, Naruko was proud of how her little brother was progressing, she had to admit he was learning this stuff better than she did. After he learned how to walk on water Naruko helped had him learn how to keep his balance when the water was moving, adding so chakra to manipulate the flow of the river she had a couple of small waves produced, and it took Naruto half an hour before he could finally withstand them and keep his balance. After that she made him run on the water, making him have less time to focus on his chakra control as well as more movement as he now had to rely on instinct so it could become second nature to him. And now Naruko decided to end their training for the day with a bit of a spar, no ninjutsu.

"You ready, Naruto?" She asked as she stood a couple of feet in front of him on the river, both of them now in the deeper end of it.

"You got it, Nee-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he got into a ready stance, being able to focus on his chakra control and balance in the back of his mind now.

"Here I come!" Naruko shouted as she ran towards her little brother.

Naruto barely dodged the punch his sister threw, ducking his head down he tried to throw a punch, but his aim was a bit off as the water beneath him wobbled a bit. Seeing him falter, Naruko swung a kick to his side which missed by just a hair, jumping to the side. But Naruto realized that while he may have learned to stand on water, he didn't know if he could do the same with other body parts as he was about to land chest first into the river.

 _'Now then, Naruto, can you put that training to use on the fly?'_ Naruko questioned, planning her attack so that he would face this dilemma.

Naruto brought his hands forward as he tried to gather chakra in them to hopefully use on the water's surface, but as it got closer Naruto felt himself falter, he didn't know if he could actually do it, and just as he closed his eyes in preparation for the impact he heard a voice.

 _ **"Let me help."**_ And just than Naruto felt some power flow through his hands as they made contact with the water and rolled his body over the surface before getting back in his face, a shock of surprise both on his face and his sister.

Taking the opening Naruto rushed Naruko, who barely shaped back in time to deflect his punch, noticing just how much more precise his movements were as they began to trade blows. Naruto felt his movements come to him like instinct, barely needing to think about the water under his feet, both of their arms colliding in a blow as they stood each other down, or well Naruko stood him down while he looked up, a determined look on each of their faces.

 _'He's improved.'_ Naruko thought as she stealthily moved one of her legs behind him, _'But I'm still better.'_ As she tripped him up, making him lose his stance as he fell to the side, but not before grabbing his sister's knee on the way down and bringing her with down with him.

Despite both of them falling underwater, they didn't stop their attacks, but now it was less like ninja and more like two siblings roughhousing with each other as they grabbed and pulled at each other with their hands before they both came up for air.

"Ugh!" Naruto gasped as he came up and took in as much air as he could while trying to steady his breathing, his sister doing the same. But as Naruko started to pick herself up from the water her chest rose above it, and Naruto's face went red at the sight. Somehow during their time underwater Naruko's top came off, leaving her luscious mounds out for display in the open. Looking at her brother Naruko gave a confused look as to why he was looking at her like that before she noticed her orange bikini top float up to the surface in between them. Looking down at herself she saw that her top half was completely exposed.

"Eekkk!" She screamed as she quickly submerged herself under the water to hide her twin mounds. Naruko may have been proud of them, but she that didn't mean she wanted them in the open. Quietly she turned around before asking her brother in a low, pleading voice, "Naruto, can you please hand me my top?" she had one had extended towards him while the other one tried to cover her large breasts as best they could.

Quickly snapping out of his trance from her request Naruto moved forward and grapes the piece of clothing in his hand before he shakenly handed it to his sister, "Sorry, Nee-chan." He apologized as she took her top and turned her back towards.

"No problem." She shyly replied as she slipped it back on, turning to face her brother she saw that he was facing away from her. Trying to think of a way to get this awkward silence between them over with she had an idea, smirking to herself as she moved her hands.

"Ahh!" Naruto shouted in surprise as was doused in water, looking back he saw his Sister laughing at him. A tick forming on his head Naruto retaliated by splashing water back. And soon they were both laughing as they dozed each other in water for the next hour.

* * *

After their splashing battle, the two siblings decide to take the rest of the day to relax, laying on a shared towel the two of them just took in the warm sun as it started to set. Despite her little wardrobe malfunction earlier, Naruko still had a great time. It felt fun being the teacher for a change and considering how Naruto progressed she'd say she did a pretty good job at it. Having a satisfied smile on her face Naruko gave a content sigh as she stretched her body out a bit, hands above her head as her breasts sagged a little to the side. Despite the breathtaking sight that would be presented to him if he just looked, Naruto decided to keep his eyes clothes as he stretched out like his sister, hands behind his head. But still, it took him some focus not to think back at the sight he saw of his sister's exposed top, despite living together for all of his life, its been a while since he saw Naruko so bare, the most he got was catching her leave the shower hurriedly with a towel wrapped around her. But still, he tried to keep his perverted thoughts far from his mind, not wanting to risk doing something stupid and damaging their relationship.

But as he started finally get those thoughts out of his head Naruko's voice came calling, "Hey Naruto, could you do me a favor and give my back a bit of a massage?" She asked him, rolling onto her front while looking at him a light, pleading look.

"Sure Nee-chan!" Naruto answered as he got on her back before realizing what he was going to do and went tense.

"I'm waiting, Naruto." His sister said with her eyes closed.

Deciding to just get it over with Naruto gently placed his hands on her tone back, realizing how silky and smooth her skin felt as he started his massage. Naruko let out a coo of pleasure as his hands roamed her back, her brother somehow getting all of her best spots as he gently massaged her.

"Go a bit down to the side." Naruko asked as her brother lightly massaged her sides as his hands landed on the around the side of her breasts. "Oh right there." Naruko stated as Naruto gently pressed and moved his fingers around the part of her breast that connected to her chest on the side, his massage giving her girls a relief of pleasure from all the moving they do.

Naruto meanwhile felt himself start to sweat a bit, getting a bit hard from the contact he was making with her breast. Even though he only felt a bit of them with his fingers, he noticed how they seemed to sink into her flesh, how soft it felt. Naruko than something start to lightly poke her butt, having some idea as to what it was she decided to test it.

"Get my lower back." She said, feeling Naruto move down her legs as the object poking her butt move away as he got her lower spine, his fingers resting on the side of her hips as his thumbs made circular motions on her back, breathing out a light sigh from the pleasure.

"Now get my shoulders and neck." She ordered as Naruto moved a bit up, so focused on his task that he didn't notice his light erection press in between her butt cheeks.

Naruko arched her back a bit as his fingers massaged his shoulders while his thumbs worked on her neck, pressing her backside a bit more into him, noticing its size. _'My goodness, he feels, impressive.'_ She thought before her checks became a bit red, _'Wait! What am I doing?! I'm feeling up my little brother while he gives me a massage! Oh god, keep yourself together, Naruko! Just cause you haven't had any action for a while doesn't mean your brother should be an option!'_ But just then they both pressed against each other just a little harder, and Naruko felt him pressed against her sex for just a moment, making her tingle a bit as she gave out a small moan.

But still, Naruto somehow didn't notice it, stopping when his sister put a hand up and signaled him to get off.

"That felt great, Naruto. Thanks." Naruko said to him as she got up.

"Uhh no problem, Nee-chan, glad you enjoyed it." Naruto replied, trying to hide to hide her flushed face.

Making her way back to her clothes Naruko started to put them back on, "Come on, it's starting to get late, let's get dressed and pick up some Ichiraku Ramen on the way home." Naruko told him as he started to quickly get dressed as well, excited at the prospect of getting their favorite food. As they finished packing and made their way out Naruko couldn't help but feel her face start to go a bit red.

 _'No way, I can't be thinking of him like that, can I?'_ She thought as Naruto made her way in front of her, telling her to hurry up as he ran down the road, Naruko trying to keep up as she now tried to organize these new thoughts in her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, hoped you all enjoyed that fanservice, next week will have a pretty ecchi encounter with Kushina as well so if that's your thing look forward to it. Other than that give a review if you wanna say anything, see you all next week!


	5. Rewards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, shit, been reading your guys' comments and wow, I did not expect Minato to become a problem for me. If I'm gonna get Kushina fully into this harem I'm gonna have to make sure I give the 4th Hokage a good farewell. Currently thinking of a couple of ideas to do that down the line but for now, well lets just say Kushina's not really cheating so much as she's having some fun. So hopefully you guys will like the scene I made for her.

"Come on Naruto I'm not that heavy!" Kushina shouted as Naruto carried her up the tree, the boy grunting as he focused on keeping his chakra stable against the tree while his Mother held herself against his back, adding extra weight along with some training weights she had him wear. But he wasn't the only Naruto training, his Mother had him create dozens of Shadow clones, each having their own personal Kushina shadow clone with them to train them. He was a bit surprised to learn his Mother also knew the forbidden jutsu but she just told him it was a story she'd tell him another time. And the training felt like hell, they've been doing this routine for around 2 weeks now, and even with his outstanding stamina, he felt like he would pass out at any moment.

"Come on, Naruto! The Chunin Exams are in a couple of weeks and if you're gonna enter you're gonna be the best Genin in it!" Kushina stated, she had already signed her son up for the exam along with another Genin to make a two-man squad, interestingly a three-man squad wasn't a requirement this time. But even so, she wanted her son to be ready, which was why they were working on his stamina, Naruto had an absurd amount of Chakra even by Uzumaki standers, only being beaten out by his Mother and Sister. But he still needed to learn how to control it, to focus it and use it, which was why Kushina had him make multiple Shadow clones, halfing his supply of chakra a dozen times over not to mention some seals she placed on him to limit his physical prowess and how much chakra he could access, meaning he would have to be more careful on how he used it.

And he seemed to be doing a pretty good job so far, as he finally reached the top of the tree, Kushina getting off his back, as he bent down and held his knee-caps, trying to catch his breath.

"Good Job Naruto." Kushina praised as she gave her Son a quick peck on the cheek as congratulations and affection.

"Thanks, Kaasan," Naruto said before the two of them disappeared in a cloud of smoke, this part of his training now complete.

Over by the open field the original Naruto and Kushina were sparring, the two of them locking blows briefly before Kushina's superior strength pushed her son back.

"Well, Naruto it looks like you finished another part of your training, if all goes well then you should be done today," Kushina stated as her Son got back up before the two of them charged at each other once again.

* * *

_'Man Kaasan is brutal.'_ Naruto thought as he stood under a waterfall, washing himself off in a small pond that was in the training ground in just his black boxers, his Mother's and his tent a couple of feet away as they prepared to stay another night outdoors. He had more or less finished his current training routine and lucky would get tomorrow to rest before they started his next step in training. Looking at his reflection in the water Naruto felt a bit proud, his training was definitely paying off, no matter how grueling it was he felt a bit more confident in his ability, not to mention he worked for this so that felt nice.

"Well look at you checking yourself out, thought to be fair I'm sure most girls would do the same considering how you look."

"Ka-Kaasan?" Naruto asked surprised as Kushina walked towards him in just a red sports bra and Bikini like underwear which left a generous portion of her assets out for display.

"Hope you don't mind me coming in with you but I just needed a shower right now," Kushina stated as she got under the waterfall, letting out a relieved sigh as the water cascaded down her body while she washed herself, her undergarments getting wet and now clinging even more tightly to her skin.

Naruto could feel a bit of blood running down his nose from the sight before he quickly looked away, "No problem Kaasan, I was just about finish anyway." He said with his hands behind his back as he began to walk away until he felt a hand grab his shoulder and stopped him.

"No need to leave just yet young man, let's take this chance to just talk," Kushina said as he pulled Naruto towards her as they sat down together in the shallow part of the water, looking at the night sky as they took in the atmosphere.

"So how are you feeling?" Kushina asked, Naruto just looking at her confused as he didn't understand the question, "I mean how are you feeling so far ever since you've become a Ninja, do you feel you've improved, do you feel ready to take on the exams?" Kushina clarified.

Naruto closed his eyes as he pondered the question, searching for his words he said, "Well I definitely feel like I've improved, when we ran into Orochimaru I felt in a way powerless, like I couldn't do anything against him. But even when I faced that Kabuto guy, I lose badly, I thought I got him good but that just gave him the opening to attack me, and cause of that Hinata got hurt."

Kushina, looked at her Son with a solemn look, in truth he had done amazingly well in those circumstances, but still, to him it felt like a defeat, wrapping an arm around him she pulled him in closer, and despite the lack of clothing they both had Naruto didn't really care at the moment as he continued.

"But with your training, I feel stronger than before, I can feel it paying off, I'm not just using the natural talent that I get from being your's and dad's son, but I'm getting stronger from my own work." Naruto stated, his fist now clenched in front of him with a determined look on his face as he finished, "And during the Chunin Exams I'm gonna have the world look at me not as the son of the Hokage, but as Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki, my own person."

Kushina smiled at her Son's determination, pulling him in closer she ruffled his hair playful as she said, "That's my boy, you'll show everyone who you are, and I'm gonna be proud as you do it."

"Thanks, Kaasan," Naruto said, as he looked away embarrassed, trying his best not to stare at his Mother's breasts as they were right next to him while feeling his erection start to rise.

Seeing his embarrassment as well as him starting to cover his the tent forming Kushina decided now was good a time as any to move onto some side training she had in store for him. Pressing herself up more against him she made sure to lightly grind her breasts against his back as she said in a teasing voice, "What wrong Naruto? Something the matter?"

Naruto felt his face heat up, in a stuttering voice he said, "Ka-Kaasan, you're too close,"

Kushina only laughed as she pulled away, teasing her Son was a fun past time she enjoyed while being his Sensei. Though Naruto just gave an embarrassed look as he looked down in shame, thinking his Mother thought of him as a pervert. Seeing his embarrassment Kushina calmed down, scooting next to him gently as he looked down.

"I'm just teasing, Naruto," She said as she rubbed his back, Kushina thinking she may have gone too far in her little game, though he still didn't face her, deciding to just get this over with and clear the air between them Kushina asked, "Naruto, do you find me attractive?"

Naruto was caught off guard by the question as he looked at his Mother with wide-eyed, not knowing if he correctly heard what she said, "What?"

"I said do you find me attractive, don't lie OK, just tell me the truth," Kushina said, her face not one of teasing but of that as a Mother who just wanted their child to be honest with them.

Deciding it was best not to lie to her Naruto just told her the truth, "Yes Kaasan, I find you attractive,' He said, now turning away as he felt like crawling in a hole to hide himself from embarrassment before he said, "You must think I'm some pervert, huh?"

"Well maybe a little, but I don't blame you, you're at that age where you're noticing girls and all that and I trust you to control yourself," Kushina said as she now placed a hand on his back while she smoothly rubbed it in order to relax him as she continued, "And to be honest, I've been doing this to you on purpose."

Naruto just stared at his Mother wide-eyed as she said that, not expecting her to admit she teased him like this on purpose, but he had to ask, "Why?"

"Well other than its fun, its to help you control your hormones, I know I got a pretty good body compared to other Women, but if you're gonna be a Ninja you're gonna inevitably run into those who will use their bodies to entice you. Me strutting around almost naked will hopefully help you resist those people, not the most acceptable training I'll admit but that's why it's our little secret." Kushina explained, poking her Son on the nose playfully as she also said, "And so far you've been doing a pretty good job, most boys your age would ogle a Women like me, but not only have you tried to be respectful, you've been doing the same to others, I know that with people like your Sister, her friends, and hell even the Kyuubi when she's in human form it could be a bit hard to not stare, but you've been trying and with that I'm proud."

"Oh, wow, thanks Kaasan, I never expected to hear something like that. I know that these feelings are kinda natural but still, I just didn't want to look at you and the others like some sex object, I care for you all." Naruto stated not bothering to cover the tent in his boxers, a bit embarrassed but he felt like he should be honest considering what his Mother was telling him.

"And that's why I'm proud of you, and you know what let's make a bit of deal," Kushina said as she wrapped an arm around him as she pulled him in close, deciding now was a good time to maybe implement something she had thought of.

"What type of deal?" Naruto asked questionably, noticing the mischievous smirk his Mother had.

"Well despite how well you're doing for a boy your age I know there's only so much you can take, so I'll give you some rewards," Kushina said with a husky tone, making Naruto feel goosebumps.

"What type of rewards?"

"Well, depends, maybe I'll give you a little peak, let you have a grab or two, or give you a nice show," Kushina listed, emphasizing her breast as she got up.

"No way?" Naruto asked disbelieved as he looked up at his Mother her gave him sultry smile while looking down at him.

"Yes way, you've been such a good student that I might as well reward you for it, but only on a few conditions," Kushina stated as Naruto nodded his head to learn of these conditions were.

"First, I dictate what you get, second, you don't tell this to anyone, and third, I'm gonna tease the hell out you."

Naruto nodded his head in understatement as he said, "Yes Sensei," Being as obedient as he could to get these rewards.

"Good boy, I've decided I'll be really, really generous for your first reward." Kushina said as she sat down on his lap, making sure to squish the tent forming in his boxers between her buttcheeks, pressing herself against him as she lowered her mouth to his ear and whispered in a sultry tone, "For the next minute you can grab my body how you wish, no removing my panties or bra or slipping your fingers under them, other than that feel free to grope my ass, motorboat my breast, or just hold me close,"

Naruto could only look at his Mother, mouth agape from what she said before he gave her the biggest smile he could muster, "Kaasan, your the best Mom and Sensei in the world,"

Kushina smiled at her Son's compliment, "And for that compliment, I'll give you another minute to do as you please, now hurry up and start cause like I said, I'm being really generous for this reward so don't expect stuff like this often."

Naruto quickly nodded his head in understatement, despiting hearing a familiar growl in his mind he proceeded to grab his Mother's breasts, making the Red-hair Jonin give a quick gasp from his grip before giggling as he enthusiastically started to knead her breast, looking in awe at how his fingers seemed to sink into her flesh, even so, he tried not to grab to hard, a detail Kushina noticed.

_'Even with this opportunity he's still holding himself back a bit, god am I proud of him, not to mention this feels nice,'_ Kushina thought, giving a small cute like moan, a smile on her face when Naruto gave her breast a squeeze. Keeping one of his hands to explore her twin mounds Naruto began to use the other one to glide over her body, placing it on her hip, back, thigh, and finally on her round firm butt.

"You got a minute left, Naruto." Kushina reminded him _'Man is he good at this, I might be inclined to give him rewards like this more often than I originally planned of he keeps on making me feel this nice.'_

Hearing that Naruto began removed the hand he had on his Mother's breast before grabbing her backside with a firm grip before he pulled her even closer towards him, burying his face in her cleavage as he began to motorboat her, Kushina laughing playfully before giving a soft moan from his grip on her ass, placing one of her hands to the back of his head to keep him in her cleavage, liking the feeling he was giving her.

"15 seconds," Kushina declared, curious as to what he would do with little time left, giving a surprised gasp as Naruto took a firm grip on her backside, pulling her in closer as he suddenly stood up while holding her up.

_'My goodness!'_ Kushina thought as she wrapped her long slender legs around his back to keep herself up, inadvertently pressing herself closer against him while also causing her to grind lightly against his erection as Naruto used his final seconds to give each part of her body one last good squeeze.

_'Cleaver boy,'_ Kushina praised before she said, "Stop."

Naruto quickly stopped all his actions as obedient as he could, removing his face from her breast while now gripping her thighs to help hold her up as she decided to still be carried by him.

"I'm a bit impressed by those moves Naruto, is my little Son secretly a raging pervert cause I don't know how else you would think of those little tricks of yours?" Kushina questioned, raising an eyebrow up questionably at her Son as he nervously looked away.

"I may have found one of Uncle Jiraiya's novels," He chuckled nervously.

"While I should be mad, considering how nice your groping was I'll let you off the hook." Kushina stated as she unhooked her legs from Naruto's back, standing on her feet, hand on her hip as she looked at him with a teasing smirk before she said, "Now I'll go to my tent and give you some privacy, considering that massive tent your sporting,"

Kushina laughed as Naruto nervously looked away, turning his body so she didn't see his erection. Patting his back she began to walk away with some sway in her hip before she stopped and turned her head at her Son and said, "Remember Naruto, the better you perform, the better the rewards, so work hard and we'll get to play hard," Giving her ass a smack to make it jiggle on display she barely contained her laughter as Naruto quickly nodded his head at her.

As Kushina made it towards the camp she quickly removed her wet undergarments, placing them over the fire they had as she wrapped herself in a towel,, completely drying herself off she entered her tent as she put on her sleeping clothes, a simple pair bland panties and a large shirt as she got under the covers.

_'I'm not cheating on Minato, am I? No I'm just giving my little boy some rewards, not like we're actually gonna do anything. Though I definitely enjoyed his touch.'_ Kushina thought as she drifted asleep, giggling as she heard Naruto grunting in the background, her years as a Shinobi giving her some pretty good senses.

* * *

Naruto groaned as he got up, despite doing it for the past couple of weeks he still didn't like getting up this early, though thankfully his body was starting to get used to getting up outdoors as he opened the flap in his tent and saw his Mother eating some breakfast she had packed for them. Seeing her Son up Kushina handed him his food which he took as he sat down next to her, noticing she was still in her PJs.

"Thanks, Kaasan,"

"No problem, remember to rest today cause tomorrow we start your finally training routine before the Chunin Exams so rest up cause it's gonna be hell," Kushina advised as they ate their food together in comfortable silence.

"Hey, Kaasan,"

"Yes, Naruto?"

"About your, _rewards_ , does Dad know about them, I mean as much as I enjoy them-" Naruto began to say before Kushina cut him off.

"Let me stop you right there Naruto, for starters, your Father does not know about this. Now as nice as it is you care I let you in on something, I'm a woman with needs, and as amazing as your Father is, his job as Hokage has made it difficult to meet my needs as his Wife. So while these rewards are nice for you, they help me alleviate some of those needs, don't get me wrong I still love your Father, but let's just say you help to scratch an itch he can't all the time, okay?" Kushina explained.

"Ok Kaasan, I get," Naruto said before he decided to maybe test the waters, wrapping an arm around her waist Naruto pulled his Mother closer as they now sat with their sides pressed against each other.

"Don't get too grabby, Naruto," Kushina warned, continuing to eat her food, not necessarily stopping her Son's grip on her waist.

"Just wanted to hold you close, Kaasa," Naruto said, making Kushina laugh at his obvious lie, letting him have his fun for now as they continued to eat before cleaning up and heading home.

* * *

While Naruto relaxed at his house Kushina meanwhile was roaming the streets of Konoha, looking for someone she entered a bar and found the woman she was looking for.

"Kushina-chan! What are you doing here! " Anko greeted happily, the area around here mostly devoid of customers except for a few brave souls who thought they could handle her.

"Well I was actually looking for you, I have a favor to ask," Kushina told her as she took a seat next to her, signaling the bartender for a drink.

"What do you need Kushina-chan?" Anko asked.

"I need to use the Forest of Death for a week to help train my Student."

"My that's a pretty big favor to ask, may I ask why?"

"Well it'll be perfect in preparing Naruto for the upcoming Chunin Exams, that place is a death trap with things he's never seen," Kushina explained.

"And you think he'll survive?" Anko questioned, it's not like she wasn't gonna let Kushina use the Forest, but still.

"I trust in his ability, and it's not like he'll be training by himself, I've got some people to supervise over him."

"I see, well I'll allow it, when do you need it ready?"

"Tomorrow."

"Will lucky for you I just finished checking it today, I'll meet you there tomorrow at Noon to let you in." Anko informed her before standing up, "You two, let's go." Anko pointed at two men who had somehow stayed near her long enough near the bar as they followed her out with a skip in there step.

"Somethings never change," Kushina said as she hoped Anko didn't get too crazy with them, considering she had one of her one-night stand in the hospital when she took their fun too far. Getting up she made her way to the Hyuuga compound to enlist the help of someone.

* * *

"So what's this training you have planned, Kaasan?"

"You'll see soon enough, Naruto."

Naruto was currently following his Mother as they made their way to the outskirts of the Village, he was getting more and more curious as to where they were going as they were nowhere near their usual training grounds. But after a couple of minutes, Naruto saw a large Forest come into view that had massive trees and large fences surrounding it. As they walked in front of a huge chain like gate Naruto was about to ask his Mother if this was where they were gonna be training, only for them to be interrupted by someone.

"Kushina-chan, you made it!"

Turning to the source of the voice Naruto saw a women wearing a form-fitting mesh bodysuit with a tan trench coat with a spiky framed ponytail sitting on top of a wooden structure, eating what appeared to be a dango, before finishing the food and throwing it at a nearby tree.

"Aw, a perfect Leaf Village Symbol," The Women praised herself as Naruto took a closer look and saw that other wooden sticks were also embedded into the tree, creating the Konoha symbol, he was so impressed by the creation that he didn't notice the Woman walk up to, "So your Kushina's Son, name's Anko, nice to meet you." Extending her hand out to him Naruto did the same as they shook hands and exchanged a smile before Naruto turned to his Mother.

"Kaasan, is this where we're gonna train?"

"Yep!" Kushina confirmed turning to Anko who knew what to say.

"Listen here kid, this here is the Forest of Death, a place teaming with, well, Death. Inside are multiple creatures which can kill you, not to mention the multiple poisonous plants that are poisonous, gigantic, and just straight up dangerous." Anko explained, making the Genin sweat drop a little from just how dangerous this place was.

"So Kaasan, you and I are gonna train in there together?"

"Actually I'm not gonna be with you, you're gonna be by yourself!" Kushina stated with a bright smile, making her Son go wide-eyed in shock.

"What!"

"Oh Don't worry Naruto, I'm sure you'll be fine, this is great practice for the exams since you won't have anyone to rely on except yourself." Kushina assured her son, but he still seemed a little unsure, putting her face in a teasing smirk she leaned down her front a bit, making sure that her breasts were put out just a bit more than usual while not seeming proactive as she said, "And if you do well, I'll give you a reward."

Hearing those words Naruto's face became determined as he clenched his fist and said, "So when do we start?"

"When you wake up." Kushina told him, making the blonde give a confused look before being knocked out by Anko, Kushina catching him before he hit the ground.

"So what type of reward are you gonna give him?" Anko asked questionably

"Only something a Mother would know!" Kushina replied, giving the Jonin a sweat smile that also doubled as a warning not to ask more of it, which Anko decided to respect, waving goodbye as Kushina took the unconscious Naruto into the forest.

* * *

"Ughhh," Naruto groaned as he got up, finding himself on a patch of grass surrounding by tall trees. 'So I guess I'm gonna have to fend by myself for now,' Naruto thought as he quickly put his hands in a seal, noticing that while he didn't have his training weights, some of the seals he received from his Mother were still present on his body restricting his physical prowess and chakra. Deciding the best thing to do was to scout the area for a good Water supply he quickly made a dozen Shadow clones, each going off in a pair as they spread out into the forest.

"Not a bad start." Kushina said as she watched her Son's clone scatter into the forest from atop of a tree, with her skill level it wouldn't be that hard to hide from him as long as he didn't notice her presence.

Following the original version of Naruto at a good distance, Kushina noticed that he was about to cross into the area of a giant insect.

Naruto could barely react when his clone suddenly threw him out of harm's way as it took a hit from the giant Centipede that attacked with its tail, making the clone disperse. Taking out a kunai quickly Naruto added a paper bomb to it as he threw it at the attacker, who seemed to know what it was as it quickly took cover with its hard shell.

_'What!?'_ Naruto thought before dodging some needles the insect spewed from its mouth before beginning to rush him.

_'That's right Naruto, the creatures in here have been battling shinobi for decades, they know some of our tricks and have adapted to be able to fight us, so what will you do?'_ Kushina pondered as she saw her Son frantically dodging attack after attack before summoning a clone which transformed into a large shuriken. Throwing it at the Centipede the creature swiftly dodge it, not noticing the object transforming back into a clone before throwing some smoke bombs at the creature along with some paper bombs.

The Centipede as caught off guard at having its vision cut off, giving a shirk as it lost some of its legs in the ensuing explosion, anger overtaking it looked for its orange opponent, only to find it gone, nowhere in sight.

Naruto quickly fled the area as he got away, deciding it was best not to waste his energy fighting the creature for now, for all he knew that could be one of the lesser powerful creatures in this forest, so he needed to save up as much energy as he could before stopping and heading in the direction of one of the clones which disperse. At least for now, he found a suitable water supply, not noticing his Mother following him from a good distance behind.

As Naruto found himself by a river bed with a rocky ground he began to try and set up a camp, finding a suitable small cave nearby he inspected it, only to be created by a bear which tried to maul him.

"Crap!" Naruto said as the bear grazed his arm, drawing some blood. Arming himself with a kunai Naruto began to fight back against the beast, a couple of his clones joining him as they finished their scouting. Luckily with the advantage of numbers, the battle didn't take long, though while the bear did take out a couple of clones it eventually suffered a kunai to the head which ended its life.

Seeing that the area now appeared relatively clear Naruto and his clones began to set a perimeter around the area, laying traps to alert them if anything approached while a couple of others began to skin the animal and set up a fire.

Before he knew it night had come, Naruto sat quietly at the campfire eating while one of his clones scouted the area, while he felt a bit bad for the clone he really didn't have a choice he had to be vigilant, and that's when he realized something, "Oh man, Kaasan didn't tell me how long I was gonna be here for!"

Feeling a bit uneasy as to not knowing how long he'll have to survive in here Naruto finished his food as he recalled his clone, heading into the small cave he'd sleep in for the night as he covered the entrance with some big leaves he found. Sitting down at the far end of the cave Naruto tried his best to fall asleep despite the uncomfortable conditions.

* * *

Perched atop of a tree Kushina smiled as Naruto headed into the cave, _'Not bad.'_ She praised, hearing some rustling behind her she was found herself facing a group of 4 women, "I see you'll all have made it, except Naruko." Kushina greeted.

"Naruko said she'd tried to make it later, apparently the Kazekage is arriving earlier than expected and she wanted to greet him along with the Hokage," Sakura informed her.

"So where is the little punk?" Ino asked, Kushina pointing towards the small cave near the Riverbend.

"Hmm, I noticed some of the traps he set around the area, they were pretty decent given the circumstances," Tenten commented as she had to warn the girls where they were set after Ino almost triggered one.

"So how long do you want us to look after him, Kushina-san?" Hinata asked.

"I say around 3 more days, remember girls, don't help him unless it becomes a life or death situation and give him as much training as you can discreetly can," Kushina ordered, the girls nodding in understanding before Kushina waved goodbye and left.

"I'll take the first shift." Sakura said while the rest of the girls went off to set up a camp nearby.

* * *

"How much longer, Touchan?" Naruko asked as the two stood in front of the gates to the village, Naruko growing more tried by the minute as the Moon rose higher and higher.

"I don't know, Naruko." Minato replied, sighing, as much as he loved his Daughter, she could be a bit taxing, especially at the end of the day.

The two waited around a bit for a couple of minutes before a trio of figures appeared in the distance, Naruko instantly getting a smile on her face as she waved enthusiastically at them, the trio waving back as they approached.

"It's nice to see you again, Lord Kazekage." Minato greeted as he shook his hand with a smile.

"It's good to see you as well, Lord Hokage, and you too, Naruko." He greeted as he removed his blue hat revealing his darkish red hair.

"It's good to see you too, Gaara." Naruko greeted as she shook his hand as well.

"Well, as much as it would be nice to talk about how our Villages have been it's probably best to rest for now, Naruko here will take you to where you'll be staying and we'll discuss the finishing preparations for the Joint-Village Chunin Exams tomorrow," Minato explained.

"Very well, I'll be looking forward to it," Garra stated as the Hokage said his goodbyes before teleporting back to his home.

"Come on guys, follow me," Naruko said, motioning with her hands as she led the three of them to where they were gonna stay.

As Naruko was chatting with Temari and Kankuro, Gaara decided to ask Naruko something, "So Naruko, I hear your Brother is taking the exams this year."

"Yep! He's actually currently training in the Forest of Death to prepare." Naruko informed them.

"Isn't that the place where we took the second stage of our exam? Why would he train there?" Temari questioned

"He actually didn't choose to train there, my Mom just threw him in there," Laughing along with the other siblings as she continued, "Though I trust he can take care of himself, though my Mom did ask for my help in overseeing his training, so there's that."

"I would like to meet him if that's alright," Garra asked

"No problem! I'll have it arranged somehow!" Naruko stated as the four of them continued to walk through the night.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ay so, well, you can tell the next arc I got planned is the Chunin Exams, planning on making that the real start of the Harem as the next 3 Chapters give some preparation for it. Also for those wondering about the Kushina scene, got the idea from all those M-rated Kushina's Sensei fics, they were one of my prime inspirations for this story, so I plan on having these rewards happen every couple of Chapters to spice things up. So until than, later.


	6. Guardians

As Naruto woke up he found himself not in the cave he slept in, but in the Kyuubi's layer.

"So you finally decided to visit huh?" The Kyuubi called out, already in her human form.

"More like you dragged me over here, not like I can actually come here by myself yet," Naruto pointed out as he walked over the bars that separated them.

"That's because you haven't tried contacted me in a while!" The Kyuubi said with an annoyed look on her face.

"Because you haven't been responding to me whenever I tried!" Naruto replied back a bit confused before continuing, "So I just stop trying, I thought you were mad at me or something."

"Well maybe if you didn't just call on me for help with your training I wouldn't have gotten annoyed, I'm not your personal cheat sheet!" The Kyuubi argued back, hands on her hips as she glared at him through the bar.

"Well I just thought that my training could be good for the both of us, it seems to be the only times you ever responded to me when I called out! I don't know how else to talk to you!" Naruto shouted back as he got closer to the cage.

"Well at least try! You want us to be friends then put in more effort cause I don't want to get my hopes up!" The Kyuubi snapped back, the two of them now in each other's faces with the bars separating them.

"I-I thought you didn't want to be my friend," Naruto solemnly said as he averted his eyes from her's.

"I never said that, I just said not to think we're all buddy buddy with each other yet." The Kyuubi sighed back as she averted her gaze from him as well. They both said nothing in an uncomfortable silence as they tried to think of ways to better communicate with each other, not noticing they were holding each other's hand through the bar unintentionally before the Kyuubi without any thought squeeze his hand. The two of them then proceeded to look at their joined hands, taking a moment to notice how much they liked the other's grip before their faces went red and they each quickly pulled away embarrassed.

"Look, the reason I call you here was cause of those, _rewards,_ you're gonna get from your Mom." The Kyuubi said with a slightly red face as she held the hand that touched him with her other, Naruto getting a bit embarrassed when she brought the subject up. "Look I'm not here to judge you on it or whatever, but, just try and keep your hormones under control, as I told you before when you get, _excited,_ I can feel it, and while I can deal with it for a little bit, if you spend the whole day fantasising about some sexual desire, it gets to me." She explained, her face getting a bit redder as her bangs cashed a shadow over her eyes as she looked away.

"Uh, I'm really sorry about it, I'll do my best, sorry if that bothers you." Naruto tried to apologize.

"Just, try and be mindful, and by the way, I know I'm, _enticing,_ in this form by your society's standards, so thanks for not ogling me all of, well most of the time." The Kyuubi answered, chuckling a bit at the last part, he did sometimes look a bit adorable when he stared at her like that.

"Uh yeah, and if you ever want to just talk or need help with a problem I'll always be willing to help you!" Naruto exclaimed, giving her a thumbs up, making the Kyuubi give a smile as she looked down at him, before getting a wicked thought on how to tease him a bit, she could have _some_ fun.

Turning around she walked away, a bit of sway in her hips while her tail swished back and forth, lifting just enough for him to see the bottom curve of her ass behind her kimono, making the fabric a bit tighter than usual to help emphasizes it. Turning around she caught him staring, making him quickly blush and look away, smirking to herself she said, "Don't get any ideas, we may be friends, but it'll take more for me to open up with you."

Before he could respond she quickly snapped her fingers, making him disappear from her lair. Sighing to herself she sat down, _'_ _I know I used to laugh at your ideas of peace old Sage, thinking they were impossible with how much hatred I felt in humanity, and how much hatred they made me have. But that boy, there's something about him that makes me see a bit of you in him, and if he can help me let go, then I'll have no qualms of opening up to him. Though I am starting to see the fun Kushina has in teasing him, just gotta make sure I don't go overboard or else I'm gonna start feeling it as well.'_

* * *

As Naruto got out of the cave he gave a yawn, raising a hand to block the morning sun's rays as he began to stretch and get ready for the day, unaware of the eyes currently surveying him.

"Looks like he's finally up." Ino commented

"Yeah, now TenTen, did you prepare the traps to test him?" Sakura asked, the twin hair bun girl nodding in response.

"Yep, even made them look like they were from animals, in fact, he's getting close to one right now."

The group watched closely as Naruto walked towards the water, ready to take some out to drink but as he got closer he noticed something shine out of the corner of his eyes before coming at him at an alarmingly fast rate, barely dodging the projectile which whizzed past his face. Quickly taking out a kunai he threw it with a paper bomb attached in the direction of where the attack came from. A small explosion coming from under the water as the paper bomb exploded. Looking at the result Naruto saw a group of fish float belly up.

As the girls looked at the confused Naruto walk up to the fish TenTen spoke, "I also had the traps turn into the corpse of animals if Naruto set off a seal near it so he doesn't get too suspicious.", Naruto walked up to the fishes, giving the corpse a sniff and realizing they were too damaged by the explosion to be eaten, he would have eaten the remains of the bear he killed yesterday but he had to dispose of it in case animals became attracted to the smell its dead body would give off.

Thinking his first priority was to find a source of food, Naruto created a couple of shadow clones, all of them going off in different directions to search for food.

"Hinata, you and Ino will follow the original Naruto, me and TenTen will stay here for now," Sakura stated as the Blonde and Bluenette nodded and went to follow their order.

* * *

As Ino and Hinata follow the original Naruto the purple-clad blonde decided to tease her friend with some information she learned.

"So Hinata, I heard from Naruko you gave Naruto a kiss, that true?"

Hinata almost lost her footing on the next branch, face beat red as she asked in a hushed whisper as to not alarm Naruto, "Ho-How did you find out!"

"Please, getting something like that out of Naruko was easy, just gotta know which buttons to press." Ino gloated before she added, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else, I just gotta know why? I don't think I've ever seen you give a kiss to anyone!"

"It wasn't a kiss, just a thank you peck on the cheek." Hinata embarrassingly clarified, face a bit red.

"Doesn't change my point! So what did Naruto do to make you feel like a kiss on the cheek was the best way to thank him?"

"Well, he protected me so well on our mission, even when he knew he was outclassed he tried his hardest, I felt it was the best way to express my gratitude, plus I-I think he may have a crush on me," Hinata admitted, face now completely red as her friend just chuckled.

"May? Hinata trust me, he has way more than just a crush on you, I've seen the way he stares at you, and it's not just cause you're a cutie, he's got a glint in his eyes, he just doesn't know it yet." Ino told her friend whose face got even redder.

"Look, even if he does have a crush he'll probably get over it in a bit, besides I'm way older than him, it wouldn't work out." Hinata tried to insist.

"Age is just a number, Hinata, besides he's not that much younger, besides, he's techniqually and adult now that he's a Genin, and if he becomes a Chunin, than no one will think about age that much. Not to mention I know you took a hit for him so that no doubt made his feelings for you even stronger." Ino told her, Hinata staying silent before Ino added, "Look, I may be wrong and you both don't have feelings for each other like I think, but if you do, don't waste it, the longer you wait the harder it's gonna be, for both of you."

Hinata stayed silent as she took in her friends words, but before she could respond they heard Naruto scream in the distance. Activating her Byakugan, Hinata saw Naruto dodging a large Tiger, barely slipping through the jaws of its teeth as it leaped from tree branch to tree branch in an attempt to eat the jumpsuit wearing boy.

"Hold," Ino stated as the two watched from a distance, Ino readying to use her mind transfer technique on the beast in case things got too dangerous, Hinata making sure no other creatures snuck up on them.

"Oh come on!" Naruto shouted as the Tiger followed him up a very tall tree with relative ease, he was hoping to get some breathing room but it looked as if he wasn't gonna get it as the tiger came even closer.

_'Man is this gonna waist a lot of chakra.'_ Naruto thought as he placed his hands in a seal before shouting, "Multi-shadow clone Jutsu!", Creating at least 30 of himself Hinata and Ino were a bit impressed, but the tiger showed no signs of slowing down from the increase in numbers as it kept up its ascent, one more jump and it would have the boy!

But just as he took his final leap several of the Naruto's began jumping towards the beast, slowing it down as it had to stop it ascent to take out the clones, but just as he took out the first batch another several came at him like projectiles, hitting him multiple spots hard enough to make the tiger roar out in pain, the hits were hard enough for the clones to disappear on impact

"Namikaze blitz!" Naruto shouted as his clones dived at the tiger with breakneck speeds, making the beast lose more of its footing with every hit before falling off the tree and plummeting towards the ground on its back with a loud thud.

"RAAWWRRR!" It screamed in pain, meanwhile far up the tree, Naruto nodded to his remaining shadow clone, handing him a paper bomb as the clone nodded in understatement, diving at the beast. The Tiger seeing it's target dive at him opened its mouth in rage, ready to devour him. The Clone only closed its eyes as the beast opened its mouth, devouring him whole. The Beast let out a triumphal roar, before its eye widened as its throat exploded from the inside, severing its head from its body in one blast.

"Ughh," Naruto groaned as he went down, that attack made him waste a lot of chakra, but it was the only thing he could think of at the moment, taking out his Kunai Naruto quickly took a day's worth of meat from the dead corpse, summoning another clone to help him take it back to camp.

"Man I forgot about how ferocious the creatures in this forest were in this forest." Ino commented as she and Hinata followed Naruto back to his base.

As Naruto and the clone walked towards the camp they were careful not to trigger any of their traps but they were attacked by projectiles by some animals, but with a quick dodge and the flick of a shuriken they stopped. Reaching the campfire Naruto lit a flame and let the meat roast, recalling the clone with him along with the ones out scouting, he had to conserve his chakra.

In the distance Ino and Hinata joined Sakura and TenTen as they watched the boy carefully rest while being aware of his surroundings, waiting for his food to cook while trying to regain his chakra.

"So anything interesting happy for him to get that meat?" Sakura asked her friends.

"Yep, Naruto fought a giant tiger, that thing was fast, especially for a genin, Naruto killed it by dive bombing the beast with dozens of shadow clones before sending a paper bomb inside of its throat to kill it." Ino explained.

The group of girls made small talk to pass the time, making sure to keep an eye on Naruto as he began to eat his food, the sun was approaching its peak in the sky and just as Naruto finished the last bite of his lunch he heard something fall in the distance. Looking towards the source Naruto saw one of his traps go off before a flurry of needle-like projectiles were shot at him from the forest. Looking at the attack the girls were surprised at just how close it came to hitting Naruto as ducked just in time.

"TenTen what type of trap was that! Those things were so fast even I would have trouble dodging them!" Ino shouted concerned.

"That...That wasn't one of my traps." TenTen simply said, making the girls stare wide-eyed.

Hinata quickly activated her Kekkei Genkai to see the source of the attack, eyes widening in shock as she simply said, "Oh God."

Before the other girls could ask what it was a ginormous Centipede emerged from the forest, clearly enraged as it seemed to have some of its legs missing.

"You again!" Naruto shouted, the large insect hissing threateningly in response at finally finding the boy again, finally having a chance to kill him for their fight yesterday.

"Is it just me, or do you guys feel like that Centipede is really dangerous?" TenTen asked.

"No, I can feel it too, that thing is no joke, look at all the scars it has on its body, its been through many battles and survived." Ino responded.

"Do you think we should step in and help?" Hinata asked a bit worried, when she viewed the large Centipede with her Byakugan she noticed the creature had a chakra system inside. While it wasn't uncommon for animals to possess chakra, for one to possess one in the Forest of Death was surprising, as the place was meant to test Genin and animals with Chakra were significantly stronger than those who don't, making them something even Chunin could have trouble with. Her point being proven as the Centipede hit Naruto to the other side of the river, making the boy crash through a tree as the girls winced at the sight.

"Not yet, we're not supposed to act unless it becomes clear he can't handle it." Sakura said, as much as she didn't want to see Naruto get hurt he was here to train, if he could beat the creature on his own it would make him significantly stronger, she only hoped the boy could do it on his own.

The group watched nervously as Naruto gave a battle cry, rushing out of the forest shouting, "You want it that way! Let's finish what we started!" Grabbing a kunai Naruto and the centipede charged at each other ready to kill.

* * *

"Hyaah!"

"KKHHEEE!"

"How long have they been going at it?" Ino question as multiple Naruto continued to stab the back of the Centipede with as many wounds they could inflict before manually- dispersing to return their chakra to the original.

"About 5 hours, Sakura commented, the sun getting closer and closer to setting. She was astounded by how much stamina the two combatants possessed, not letting up for fear that the other would take the chance, both covered in wounds, Naruto's clothes also becoming more tattered with rips tattering it all over.

Naruto could only huff and pant as he and his opponent stared each other down, acknowledging each other's strength by not rushing in but each wanting nothing more than to just kill the other. Naruto was running on barely a 1/16 of chakra, so in order to save as much as he could whenever he had his clones out, he made them disperse as soon as they landed a hit as to not risk them being destroyed and him losing the chakra in the process. But the Centipede was starting to figure out his attacks, so he had to think of something else, and just as he was about to make a move, his leg gave a sharp pain, making him wince and lose focus for a moment. Seeing its chance the Centipede quickly rushed its opponent as fast as its remaining legs would take it, quickly closing the distance between them with such speed that made that made the Genin gasp the giant insect opened its mouth and swallowed him whole.

"Oh My God!" Ino shouted in fear as they saw what just happened.

"I've never seen anything in this forest go that fast!" TenTen added, the creature had moved at such speeds even a season Chunin would find terrifying.

"Let's go!" Sakura order as she was ready to gut the creature and pull Naruto out.

But just as she and the others were about to jump at the Centipede a voice said, "Stop!"

"Huh?" They questioned as they looked at Hinata, her Byakugan activated as she stared directly at the beast.

"Hinata that thing ate Naruto, we have to get him out!" Ino screamed as they saw the Centipede let out a victory screech from its win.

"Just watch." Hinata simply told them, her tone making all of them obey as they looked closely at the creature. Its head was raised high as it seemed proud of its win, but then it suddenly stopped, and part of its body got bigger, and bigger, and bigger.

"No way." Ino simply said as she and the girls stared wide-eyed as the Centipede kept expanding and expanding until it burst, a bunch of Naruto's popping out it.

"I"m alive!" Naruto shouted so loud that it was likely something heard him, but he didn't care, he was just eaten whole by a giant Centipede and broke out, he'd like to see what else this forest could give him, looking at the creature Naruto it not moving, clearly dead as it laid sprayed about in the forest where they eventually moved their battle to. But then Naruto realized, he was covered from the creature's insides. "Ugh, this is disgusting." He lamented as he made his way back to his camp, feeling the fluids seeping into his clothes.

"Hinata, how does he look?" Sakura asked as the Bluenette used her Byakugan to scan Naruto's wounds.

"Nothing appears too bad, his wounds will most likely be ok as long as he cleans them up," Hinata said.

"Well, I'll go take a closer look when he's asleep, until then you and Ino will watch him, TenTen and I will prepare our food. Got it?"

"Yes." They all responded as they went to go do their tasks.

* * *

"Man I need to wash up." Naruto stated as he reached his camp once more, noticing just how much destruction his battle with the Centipede caused, though luckily it seemed his campfire, food, and small cave remained untouched.

Looking into the deeper part of the nearby river the remaining sunlight showed that there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary in it. Removing his clothes one by one Naruto gave each of them a wash in the water quickly before placing them over the fire to dry. Now bare naked Naruto stepped into the water, giving a wince as it wrapped around him and touched his wounds which luckily were already starting to heal thanks to the Kyuubi. As he now began to wash himself Naruto didn't notice the pair of eyes watching him.

"Wow, he is ripped," Ino commented, a light blush on her face as she and Hinata stared wide-eyed at the boy, both having the respect to look away when he revealed his more, _private part_ , before he went in the water. They both had to admit, Naruto looked way more fit than any Genin should, he looked to possess the strength to match both of them yet still seemed to move around with such flexibility no to mention that jumpsuit he wore making it seem unlikely he had a body like that.

"Should-Should we really be staring at him like this, Ino?" Hinata asked, her blush deeper than Ino yet she still couldn't pull her eyes away as Naruto walked into the more shallow part to wash his upper body properly.

"Hey we were told to watch him, and I haven't had any action in a while so I'll enjoy the little eye candy currently my view," Ino replied, face breaking into a smirk as Naruto now washed his upper body, wincing a bit as his hand pressed against his healing wounds, call her a perv for checking him out but honestly, she was a girl with needs, she could let herself enjoy a little show.

"I-Ino!" Hinata tried to scold, not liking the way her friend was looking at Naruto.

"Oh relax Hinata, I'm not gonna steal him from you or anything, just enjoy what you see for now, not like he knows we're watching."

"That's not the point!"

"My goodness, Hinata I-woah." Ino was staying before stopping mid-sentence as her eyes seemed to widen while her blush deepened

"Woah?" Hinata asked as she looked at her friend, who merely pointed her finger at Naruto. Looking back at the Genin, Hinata's face went scarlet, steam starting to come out of her ears as Naruto was out of the water, walking naked towards the campfire. His length while not hard out in the open, and even while flaccid its size made the two Clan-heiresses rub their thighs together unconsciously.

_'My-my goodness, if he's that big now, imagine what he'll have when he's older.'_ Ino thought, while the size of Naruto's shaft wasn't the biggest she's ever seen, for his age it was unexpected, looking almost as big as someone from her age group.

"Uh-uh-uh." Hinata stuttered, not being able to say a word, she may not have been a virgin, and wasn't as innocent as some people thought she was, but she barely had experience in the field of sex. And Naruto's length appeared bigger than anything else she had seen, as he picked up some fur he skinned off the tiger in the morning, using it to dry himself.

"Hinata?" Ino asked, noticing how spaced out her friend appeared to be. But just as she was about to shake her back to reality a voice that both of them recognized made their eyes open wide in fear.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late, what are you doing?" Naruko greeted as she landed on the tree top, looking perplexed as her friends stared at her in fear, faces red, "Uhh, are you guys ok?"

Walking up to them Hinata tried to respond but only stuttering came out, Ino meanwhile said, "Nothing Naruko, in fact, I think Sakura wanted to see you!" Hoping to get Naruko away from the area as to not discover what they were doing.

"Uhh, ok." Naruko replied, making Ino sigh in relief as the twin-tailed blonde was about to turn and leave before something caught her eyes, "Is that Naruto?" She asked, walking up in front of them as she focused her eyes, seeing her little brother just about put up his now dry boxer.

Hinata looked as if she was about to pass out while Ino simply thought, _'Fuck'_

"Were you guys, peeping on my Brother?" She simply asked, no malice in her voice, instead just curiosity, turning towards her friends with a straight face.

"Maybe?" Ino shyly replied.

"Hahaha, that's hilarious!" Naruko laughed, holding her stomach as she hunched over, confusing Hinata and Ino from her reaction.

"You're not, mad?" Ino asked

"Oh no I'm mad at you two, but I also find this funnier, don't worry I won't tell him, but I will find a way for you two to pay," Naruko stated, her tone playful yet a hint of her more dark side present when she had a chance like this, she was always a prankster by heart, though she didn't really get a chance to express herself like that anymore.

_'Oh god.'_ Hinata and Ino feared, knowing just how crafty their friend could be.

"Well I'll think of something for you two to do tomorrow, otherwise I'll go talk to Sakura." Naruko said as she left the two.

Standing there a bit stunned Ino was the first to speak.

"She's gonna make us do something really embarrassing, isn't she?"

"I'd be surprised if she didn't." Hinata replied, both girls sighing as they turned back to watch Naruto, seeing him walk to the small cave fully dressed, a small piece of meat with him as he entered the cave.

* * *

Sakura stealthy entered the small cave in which Naruto slept, currently it was the middle of the night and it was her shift to watch the boy, inside the cave she saw him leaned up against the wall, his breath steady as he slept. Trying not to disturb him she got on his level as she stealthily opened unzipped his jacket, proceeding to lift his shirt up with one hand she placed the other on his chest, enveloping it in her chakra as she began her little checkup.

_'His body seems to be doing fine, wounds are already healing up nicely no doubt thanks to the Kyuubi, and I'm not sensing any poison in his body so that's good.'_ Sakura thought before removing her hand from his chest, pulling down his shirt once again as she zipped his jacket back up. But just as she was about to leave she noticed Naruto seemed to have some smile on his face, _'What's he dreaming about?'_ She wondered, unintentionally moving her hand it bumped into something, hard. Looking at what it was Sakura felt a light blush on her face as she saw the tent the boy was sporting, now realizing what type of dream he was having.

Deciding it was best to leave she quietly exited the cave, making sure to put back the leaves he had placed in their proper position before moving back to the top of the tree, waiting for the next person to take her shift to get some rest.

* * *

The Third day was probably the easiest for Naruto, he still wasn't 100% after his long fight yesterday so he mostly laid low, not trying to draw attention to himself as he mostly stuck around the river, taking out smaller animals for his meals. But off in the distance, he noticed a tall building which appeared to be in the center of the forest, taking note of it to perhaps visit tomorrow when he got his full strength back.

_'Should probably start to head back now, sun is starting to set.'_ Naruto thought as he began to walk down the river back to his little makeshift camp.

On his way down he noticed the river diverge a bit, one heading back towards his camp, while one seemed to lead into the forest, and for some reason curiosity got the better of him as he went towards the path in the forest.

"Oh, he's coming!" Naruko whispered excitedly to Ino and Hinata, both having massive blushes on their faces as they stood in just their undergarments, and despite Ino being the one to have the more, spicy, undergarments, a lacy thin yellow thong and bikini type bra that left not much to the imagination, Hinata was definitely the more nervous one of the two as despite sported a pair of conservative bra and underwear, her assets were more than big enough to be showed off proudly as they were mostly for keeping them in place. But both were praying for the sun to set even faster to cover their bodies in darkness for when Naruto would inevitably see them like this.

Turning back to her friends Naruko ordered, "Ok now get into position! Remember I'll be keeping an eye from a distance so don't try to get out of it! And after it's over, Ino you can wipe his memory of the event."

Groaning the two girls in question went to their spot inside the small cave they had found, the water leading into it as they went deeper, stopping at the small pond inside barely lit up by some crystals illuminating the place with just enough light that someone could make out their silhouette.

"I can't believe this is happening again," Hinata muttered under her breath, not realizing she spoke out loud, allowing Ino to hear what she said.

"Again?" She questioned, despite her current attire and the position she was in she was curious.

"Oh god did I say that out loud!?" Hinata asked embarrassed, face scarlet as she sat down in the water, hugging her knees in shame.

Sitting down next to her Ino asked, "Want to talk about it?", no teasing in her voice, just the sound of a friend wanting to help another.

"Well, let's just say, this won't be the first time Naruto has seen me like this," Hinata stated.

"Really? Then how'd he see you the first time?" Ino asked, a bit intrigued but trying not to sound too pushy.

"During our mission together, I went to get some firewood, then I found a small pond with a nice little waterfall, not seeing the harm of it at the time I decided to wash off myself a bit, I stripped down naked in the moonlight. But then Naruto was out looking for me, and he stumbled into the pond, I don't know how much he saw as I ran away as soon as he fell, but I don't think he knew it was me cause when he told Kushina-san about the event he said that all he saw was a, goddess." Hinata said, face looking so red that it could be seen in the dark, a bit of steam coming out of her ear when she said the last word.

"My how romantic, that's quite the compliment," Ino commented with a smirk that tried to light her friends spirts.

"I know but still, it's so embarrassing for him to see me like this again." Hinata commented, not seeing Ino get a smile on her face as she now figured out a plan.

"Hey Hinata, listen to me, I got a bit of an idea for what to do, and how Naruto could see that goddess again, might as well get some fun with this right?" Ino stated, before leaning in and whispering into Hinata's ear.

* * *

Outside the cave Naruto was intrigued by the place, seeing that the sun was still a bit up he surmised he would have a couple of minutes to check the place out before needing to head back. Walking into the tunnel the light from the sun diminished, instead being replaced by some crystals which illuminated the place just enough for him to make out the area in the dark. As he kept walking the tunnel he was in opened up into a small pond barely lit up by the crystal lights, and in the middle stood a figure, water reaching up to the bottom of her hips as her back was to the boy.

Looking closer Naruto noticed that this person seemed to look familiar to the one he saw on his first mission with Hinata and his Mom, "Hello," He tried to greet, getting the figures attention, she turned around her head around first, her long hair swaying as he saw the side of the face, not being able to make it out in the darkness but still looking beautiful. And then she turned the rest of her body slightly, her hips curving as she turned, the side of one of her breast came into view and Naruto seeing how big they were on her.

Naruto felt his face heat up a bit, but then he saw the figure raise up her arm towards him, it looked slender as it extended towards him, an open palm facing towards him before she moved it in a motion that seemed to ask him to come closer.

"Huh?" Naruto couldn't help but say confused, why would this beautiful Goddess ask him to come closer, but before he could ask he felt two slender arms wrap around his neck, trying to turn his head back to face whoever it was he couldn't as the arms kept him facing forward.

"Uh uh uh, no looking back, your Goddess is calling you, go and join her." The person behind him said, the voice sounded somewhat feminine and familiar yet a sultry tone was present in it as he saw one of the arms holding him move up before laying its open palm on his forehead, and than suddenly he felt like he was in a trance as the person said, "Why don't you get a bit more comfortable."

The person's hands went to his jacket, unzipping the orange vest as she slid them off his body, he didn't resist, no, he felt like he _couldn't_ resist, even so, he didn't think we defy the voice as he raised his arms obediently as she pulled off his shirt, leaving his chest bare as he stepped out of his sandals. Than he felt the slender arms move down his body, still wrapped around him as he now felt soft, rperky like globes pressed against his back as they slid down, her arms now around his waist as she gripped the bands of his pants before tugging it down in one stroke, leaving him in just his boxers as his bulge was now showing through the fabric, his mind was still fuzzy.

"Now you're ready." The voice said as its arms went back up his body, still wrapped around him, the person's no doubt impressive chest pressing into the back of his neck while its soft hands rested just between his stomach and chest as she pushed their bodies slightly together. Naruto shivered as he noticed she seemed to be mostly undressed as well, the skin on skin contact along with the trance he was in didn't make him realized that she was guiding him into the water, closer and closer to the Goddess standing in it.

Before he knew it Naruto was standing a foot away from the Goddess, her side still facing him as her face, covered in darkness yet the silhouette of it still made her look beautiful. Then the figure turned fully towards him, her front facing him as Naruto felt his face flush up, taking note of how she was taller than him. She looked amazing even in the darkness, he just wished he could take in more details, but even than he felt blessed to even meet her again at all.

He felt like they were just standing there for what felt like hours, feeling the women who held him let go of him with a giggle as she unpressed herself from him, hearing the water move as she seemed to walk away. But even so, he still face forward, be the trance he was in, the hormones that were raging, or just wanting to appreciate her beauty his eyes stayed focused on her. But then she walked closer towards him, placing her hands on his shoulder she motioned him to sit down.

Not wanting to disobey her he sat down in the water as it came to just around to his chest. Looking up at her the figure slowly descended, legs on either side of him as she rested on her knees before she landed right on his lap, his erection pressing right between her butt cheeks. Wrapping her arms around his neck she lowered herself more on him, slightly grinding against him before pressing her chest against his. Naruto didn't even feel the fabric that contained her mounds as he unknowingly wrapped his hands around her, holding her close as he looked up at her face.

"You're, beautiful." Naruto simply stated, amazement and honestly clearly in his voice.

Naruto felt the world around him slow down as she cupped his cheek into her hand, her hand felt soft, her entire body felt soft, but despite being the position he was in, being half naked with their beautiful women as they pressed against each other, he still had his attention focused on her face. And then she leaned down slightly,her face closer to him as they could feel each other's breath. Naruto didn't know what it was, being the trance he was in, or his hormones, but he leaned his head up at her as well, and than, their lips met, and the kiss didn't faze him, it just felt, right.

Naruto thought he heard a muffled shock gasp from her, but even so, she didn't pull away,

Tightening her hold on her he kissed with as much feeling he could convey, while it might not have been as passionate as he read in Uncle Jiraiya's novels as their mouths remained closed, before she started to return it as well. Narutol felt like he was on cloud nine, eyes closed as he just enjoyed the position he was in before they both pulled away.

Naruto couldn't help the smile that came on his face, and despite the minimal light Naruto thought he saw her smile as well, they sat like that for what seemed like hours but was in actuality just a couple of seconds. And then a ray of light seemed to show on the Goddess's face as all the crystal lights illuminated more than before, providing Naruto with just enough light to make out who this person was.

"Hinata?" He asked, still a bit dazed but eyes widen as he looked at her, her sweet face that had a loving, proud yet nervous smile suddenly disappeared as he felt her tense up, face going scarlet.

"Na-Na-Naruto-kun." Hinata stammered before her eyes went blank and she passed out atop of him, surprising the boy as he caught her.

"Oh crap," Turning to the source of the voice Naruto saw Ino standing at the edge of the water, clad in just her undergarments as her slender body stood there, her face breaking into a nervous smile when she realized he noticed them.

"Ino?" Naruto asked, as he now found out who the voice that was speaking to him before was.

"Hey there Naruto," Ino nervously chuckled as she quickly moved across the water, her breast jiggling a bit widely in her bra as she quickly closed the distance between them before placing her placing her hand on his head and said, "Sorry about this but you're gonna need to forget."

And then everything went blank.

* * *

"God this is not good" Ino shouted as she quickly picked her friend off the stunned and dazed Naruto before running and carrying her out of the cave, shivering as she got outside and into the cool air, Naruko leaning lazily as on a tree branch before she noticed them, eyes widening as she saw Hinata unconscious.

Jumping down she quickly made her way over to them and asked, "Ino, my goodness what happened?"

"Ohh, Hinata may have passed out from embarrassment when Naruto found out it was her." Ino explained as she and Naruko made their way back to the camp while carrying the unconscious Hyuuga.

"Damn, I knew she would get flustered around him but I didn't think it would be this bad." Naruko commented

"If you knew she would get flustered than why'd you have us do this?!" Ino shouted

"To embarrass both of you, plus I also knew Naruto and Hinata have a crush on each other so I was hoping Hinata would get past her embarrassment and maybe make some sort of move." Naruko explained as they made their way back to where they left Hinata's and Ino's clothes.

"And me?" Ino asked.

"I was pretty sure you already knew how they felt about each other so I figured you'd try to help her somehow." Naruko stated as she dried off the Hyuuga girl while Ino dried herself off.

"Well I hate to prove you right but I did help, and it actually went pretty well." Ino said proudly.

"It did? What happened?" Naruko asked curiously as she dressed her friend.

"Not telling you." Ino replied smugly, making her friend whine in frustration.

"Fine, oh, did you wipe Naruto's memory?" Naruko asked curiously.

"Well, I kinda had to since he found out it was me and Hinata, though I did it in a hurry so while he won't remember our identities some other parts will probably seem like a dream to him." Ino stated as she stood fully dressed, kneeling down to help Naruko with Hinata as they made their way back to the camp.

* * *

Back in the cave, Naruto came back to reality, eyes blinking in confusion as he found himself in just his boxers sitting in the water inside this dimly lit cave.

'What happened?' He wondered before his mind seemed to flash, he remembers a sultry voice, some sort of dream-like trance he was in, and then he saw...

"A Goddess," Naruto said, smile on his face as he realized he got to meet her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how'd you like the chapter? Hopefully that Hinata scene was nice enough for you guys. By the way, no new Chapter next week, just so you know. But don't worry, the next chapter will have a pretty cool battle plus another one of Kushina's rewards so hopefully you'll enjoy that, until than, later!


	7. 9-Tails v. 1-Tails

As Naruto walked back to his cave, inside his mind the Kyuubi was a currently wondering what to do. She had saw what those two friends of Naruko did to Naruto, and she was surprised by the boldness of them, and than felt an intimidate need to facepalm once the Hyuga girl fainted after being discover.

 _'I don't know how to feel about that girl.'_ The Kyuubi thought as it walked around its cell. If she wanted she could easily wipe the block on Naruto's mind that the one she knew as Ino put on him. She had to admit, the girl's skill was impressive for her age, but no match for someone as old and experienced as the mighty Kyuubi.

 _'I think I'll just leave it for now, might be intresting to see what happens down the road, not to mention if he did remember what heppened who knows how much his hormones might shoot up, Kushina's rewards are hard enough for me to deal with.'_ She decided before putting herself to rest along with her Jinchuriki as they entered the cave.

* * *

When Naruto woke up the next day he couldn't help but feel, well, energized. He felt his strength back at 100%, not to mention he was in high spirits from the visit with the Goddess again last night, stepping out of cave Naruto readjusted his headband as he looked up at the rising sun. Going over to the river Naruto caught a fish and made his breakfast, finishing it up he made his way towards the building structure he saw yesterday.

"Looks like he's heading to the tower," TenTen commented.

"We then we should probably follow him." Sakura added as she and the rest of the group followed Naruto from a distance

As Sakura and TenTen took the lead, Naruko and Ino saw that Hinata was trailing behind, clearly a bit distracted. Nodding to each other they slowed down to reach her.

"Hinata, you okay?" Naruko asked worriedly.

"Huh, oh yeah." Hinata replied, though her tone didn't match what she said.

"Don't lie to us girl, tell us what you're feeling." Ino said.

"Uhh, well it's about, Na-" Hinata was about to say before cutting herself off.

"I know you have a crush on Naruto, Hinata, you don't have to hide it," Naruko stated, knowing why the bluenette cut herself off.

"How, long?" Hinata simply asked, head hung down a bit, to be fair she wasn't that surprised Naruko knew, though she did want to know how long.

"For a long time, I've seen the way you've two looked at each other, and I while neither of you may have been aware of it, i could tell you were slowly falling for each other." Naruko explained before adding, " And that little thank you kiss you gave him just confirmed it to me you wanted to express those feelings."

Deciding it was best to just let these feelings out Hinata spoke, "Don't tell anyone about this ok?" She asked, the two other girls nodding in response before she continued, "I know I'm falling for Naruto, and I know he seems to be falling for me, but even so, these feelings, as much as I want to let them out and express them to him, I'm not ready, and I don't know about him as well."

Smiling reassuringly Ino responded first, "That's ok Hinata, as long as you're being honest with yourself then there's nothing wrong with that."

Joining in Naruko added, "Yeah, I know my little brother can be a bit hard-headed sometimes, but trust me, if you think he's ready, he'll treat you as best as he can, no matter how hard the challenge he'll be dedicated to pleasing you!"

"Thanks you two, I know that I'm gonna tell him sooner or later, but until then, I think I'll just let him figure out his own feelings," Hinata said, a smile on her face from the reassurance of her two friends.

"Come on you guys hurry up or we're gonna lose sight of him!" Sakura shouted at her friends in the back, who picked up the pace.

* * *

As Naruto landed in front of the tower he walked through the doors, finding himself in a large room. Looking at the wall he noticed a message written on it.

"When Heaven and Earth are opened together, the perilous path will become righteous forever." Naruto read out loud, but the other parts of the message were to eaten away for him to read. Not knowing what it meant Naruto just shrugged and continued deeper into the building, going through the other the doors he found himself in what appeared to be a large arena that had a big screen on the middle of the far wall with some statue below it.

"Man what happened here?" Naruto asked as he looked around, the floor was broken, pieces of the floor jutted out, not to mention some craters scattered around the floor and a couple on the wall.

Walking around Naruto inspected the large arena, not noticing the group watching him from a distance.

"Think he'll spot us up here?" TenTen asked

"Don't worry, I put some light Genjutsu around he to mask our presence." Ino responded as they watched Naruto look around the place.

"Man I can't believe they haven't fixed this place up since our Chunin exam?" Sakura commented as they viewed the wreckage left behind from the fights they witnessed here.

"Yeah, maybe I'll ask my dad about it sometime." Naruko added before coming up with an idea, "Hey, why don't we all have a spar with Naruto right now?!" She exclaimed, making the other girls turn to here confused.

"Kushina-san said we aren't supposed to interact with him directly." TenTen stated, making Naruko just wave a hand nonchalantly.

"So? I know my Mom, she'll be fine if we give him a bit of a spar, tell her how well he did against all of us! It'll help him prepare against fights with real ninja. Not to mention he'll learn how to fight against more powerful opponents! I mean, I don't think any of us were prepared for when this happened." Naruko stated, raising her hands to the destruction caused by the fight between Lee and Gaara years ago.

"Fine but how will we fight him? We don't exactly have masks or a change of clothes to disguise ourselves " Sakura pointed out.

"Perhaps I can help then." A deep voice said, appearing next to them in a ball gust of sand came the Kazekage, Gaara, "Hello there," He greeted them

"Gaara?!" They asked surprised.

"What are you doing here? And where are your siblings?" Ino asked

"Temari is currently discussing some preparations for the Chunin Exams with Shikamaru, and Kankuro decided to rest. As for why I am here I decided to visit this place again, with the Chunin Exams coming soon I wanted to visit some places with significance to me, and the battle I had here was something that helped to start me off my path of bloodshed." Gaara explained, arms crossed as he eyed the Yellow-hair boy standing in the middle of the room.

"I assume that is your little Brother, Naruto right?" He asked Naruko.

"Huh, oh yeah that's him." Naruko answered before adding, "You said you can help, would you mind?"

"Yes, if you want to see him test his abilities I can control my sand from here," Garra explained.

"Well then do it!" Naruko exclaimed, all of them looking down at the arena as Garra extended his arms forward, gushes of sand moving pass him as they made their way towards the middle of room behind the hyperactive boy.

Hearing something moving Naruto turned around, seeing a bunch of sand coming together to make the shape of what appeared to be a person.

 _'What is that!?'_ Naruto thought worriedly as he took out a kunai and readied a battle stance as the sand gave more and more detail to the shape it was making it.

"Hey, that kinda looks like you a couple of years ago." Ino commented as the sand finished making a younger version of Garra, similar to the one he made against Sasuke years ago.

"Yes, its to help level my power to make sure I don't go overboard," Garra responded before clenching his fist as the sand clone finished forming as it rushed at Naruto.

Naruto threw his kunai at his mysterious performance, while it looked familiar he wasn't able to remember where he saw it before it began charging at him, easily dodging his kunai as it jumped up and threw a kick towards the side of his head. Raising his arms to the side to protect himself Naruto grunted as the blow connected, he could feel his arm slightly dig into the sand before it became harder as the force threw him to the side.

 _'Damn that sand is hard, not gonna be able to just punch it recklessly unless I want bloody knuckles.'_  Naruto surmised as he got up quickly back into a battle stance as the clone stared him down.

"Wasn't that a little too hard?" TenTen asked as they watch Naruto and the clone stare each other down.

"It's to test his problem-solving skills, see how he can take down an opponent that can't be done in by normal means," Garra explained as Naruto charged at the clone.

 _'Let's see how it'll react.'_  Naruto thought as he proceeded to land a punch right in the middle of the clones chest, surprising himself when it went right through, _'What?'_  He wondered before the sand around his arm tightened, gripping him in place. Trying to get his hand out Naruto saw it raise a hand to his chest. Bracing himself he felt his chest hit with a ton of force, his arm free as he was sent flying backward.

Hitting his back against the wall Naruto gave a gasp as he felt the air knocked out of him as he landed back on his feet. Quickly thinking of something he attached a paper bomb to a kunai, throwing it at the Sandman who dodged it before the bomb went off behind it. But Naruto noticed that the bomb appeared to cause some damage, as the clone stumbled forward a bit, some sand coming off his back as it tried to regenerate it.

 _'So that's how I can beat him!'_  Naruto realized. Coming up with a plan he quickly created a couple of clones before throwing some smoke bombs at the sand-clone. Slowing down the clone as it searched for its opponent.

"Looks like he has a plan." Hinata stated as she looked closely at the fight, the others nodding in agreement as they were becoming more interested in this fight.

As the sand clone tried to look for Naruto in the cloud of smoke he quickly found himself surrounded by numerous Naruto's as they came at him from all sides. Using his sand he created projectiles to barraged the clones, making them all disappear. But then he noticed he hadn't destroyed them before they attacked. As his body was riddled with kunai along with those on the floor, and they all had paper bombs attached.

The girls were a bit confused as they saw Naruto run out of the smoke with such speed that made him look like a child running away from an angry adult, but they soon got their reason why as an enormous explosion came from the smoke, the force of its shock wave reaching up to where they were hiding as the girls felt their hair being blown away from the wind, Gaara though kept his ground, unflinching as he looked down.

Back below Naruto was jumping in celebration. Smile on his face as he defeated his opponent. But then as he was in the middle of the air a stream of sand came out of the smoke, grabbing him as it wrapped itself around his body. As Naruto struggled to break free the smoke cleared, revealing the sand clone, while definitely having taken a lot of damage as parts of its body fell to the floor in a pile of sand, was still standing, holding its hand out as that pile of sand went into the stream that held Naruto, wrapping even tighter around him.

"Uh Gaara, isn't that a bit too much?" Naruko asked, her sisterly instincts for the safety of her brother now kicking in.

"Do not fret, this shouldn't hurt him so bad he can't heal from it. However its to see the if he can escape something mostly inescapable when fearing for his life, the Chunin Exams will test him in this field one way or another." Garra stated, Naruko whined in response, despite her sisterly instincts telling her to protect him she knew her Brother would be mostly safe, he had to face something like this one way or another as she clasped her hands together, noticing Hinata doing something similar as well as she seemed as worried for Naruto as she was.

Naruto through was beginning to panic, he could feel the sand tightening, squeezing him so hard he couldn't move, the more it crushed him the more he thought he was gonna pop. But then it went blank for him.

* * *

**Naruto found himself in the lair of the Kyuubi once more, looking at the cage he saw the Kyuubi holding her hand out through the bars, looking annoyed yet expectedly at him. Giving her a smile Naruto walked up, taking her hand with his own as they stared at each other and nodded, no words exchanged as Naruto felt power surging through his body.**

* * *

Back in the real world, everyone felt a gust of wind come from Naruto, bracing themselves from the force which caught them all by surprise even Gaara as Naruto's appearance changed slightly, becoming more ferocious like as he was enveloped in red chakra. Naruto immediately got out of the hold he was in, the sand flying everywhere as he rushed the sand clone with such speed that it barely had time to shield itself with a wall of sand. But just as Naruto hit the wall he disappeared in a flash of speed before appearing behind the clone, punching through the sand that came up to defend it but his fist missed the head by an inch. After that Naruto began to blitz around the clone, disappearing and reappearing from his speed as he landed hits along its perimeter as the sand barely came up to defend the clone in time.

"Woah, is that the…" TenTen started before Sakura finished.

"That's the power of the Kyuubi, so he's able to tap into it." She stated, all of them surprised by his power boost. All of them knew how powerful the Kyuubi's power could be with their missions with Naruko who showed them first hand the raw power it could have. But they knew Naruto was a special case, not having the power of the beast but the soul, so they didn't know just how much it would affect his power if he were to use it, and while they could tell it wasn't as strong as Naruko's, it was nothing to laugh at as they had some trouble following his movements even at their level. And the girls noticed just how much more focused Gaara became.

During his blitz, Naruto finally landed a hit on the clone, the force strong enough to break apart the sand a bit as it was sent flying a couple of meters away. But before it could start to regenerate Naruto appeared next to it, using his claw-like nails Naruto used it to rip apart and separate the sand as it tried to form, turning the clone from the shape of a person to pile of sand, not having a chance to form.

Letting out a growl of victory the group in the stand except for Naruko and Gaara couldn't help but shiver a bit, the feeling of the Kyuubi's power was not something pleasant to them. But than Naruko growled a little, her friends turning to her and noticing that her face was slightly transformed, her whiskers were sharper, teeth a bit sharper, eye slitted as her pupils were now red, not to mention the ends of her hair were a bit spikier.

"Uh, Naruko." Hinata said, getting the blondes attention.

"Yeah, Hinata?" She asked, not knowing what was wrong.

"You're transforming," Hinata told her, looking confused Naruko stared at her hands and sure enough her fingers were now sharper, claw-like.

"Whoa, that's weird." Naruko stated, but before she could have a chance to shut it off Ino said something which got her attention.

"Hey, is it me or is Naruto looking at us?"

Looking at her brother Naruko saw that Ino appeared to be right, as Naruto appeared to be starring in their direction with a confused look on his face.

"Should we be worried?" TenTen asked, not sure of Naruto would attack them or not, they didn't know just how much control he had in that state.

"Stay calm, if he attacks I'll calm him down." Naruko stated, deciding to stay in her little Kyuubi state for now.

"I think he's staring at me." Gaara stated, and he was right as the girls realized that while Naruto was staring in their direction, his eyes seemed to land on the spot where Gaara was, noticing he seemed to be more focused.

Back on the ground while Naruto didn't see anyone where he was looking, he felt someone there.

 _ **"You feel it, don't you?"**_ The Kyuubi asked Naruto.

 _'Yeah, but I don't know why it feels familiar.'_ Naruto wondered, noticing he was having trouble keeping his mind stable in condition.

 **"Well it is to me, I know who they are, and by the way I know you're feeling a bit more instinctual is because your body isn't use to handling power like this, I can't do anything about its something you'll have to work on your own, so let's cut the chit-chat and kick their ass."** The Kyuubi stated, Naruto nodding in responded as he bent his legs before propelling himself forwards towards the chakra source he sensed.

Gaara was impressed by the speed the boy possessed as he flew towards him, almost reaching him before he disappeared in a flash of speed. But Gaara no longer underestimated the boy, simply moving his eyes to the left he saw the boy reappear. Throwing a punch towards him Naruto attack was block by a wall of sand.

 _'So this is where you've been hiding, huh?'_ Naruto thought, guessing the person used some sort of genjutsu to mask their presence, but that didn't mean attacks still couldn't hit. But before he could throw another punch he felt the wind knocked out of him as something dug into his side, being sent flying to the other side of the room.

Gaara along with the rest of the girls couldn't help but be a bit surprised as Naruko attack her brother, moving at such speeds they all had trouble seeing as she used a kick that sent him flying to the other side of the arena.

Turning to the Kazekage, Naruko just said, "Sorry Gaara but if you don't mind I'm gonna take over this fight."

"Very well," Gaara respond, Naruko giving him a thankful smile in response before she flew across the room at breakneck speeds.

Naruto barely could sense the attack coming at him in time as he dodged. Moving side to side as his opponent tried to land a hit on him, Naruto focusing so much on dodging he couldn't see who this person was with how fast they were moving.

But then Naruto could tell they were gonna use a forward sidearm on him, using his full strength and speed he had Naruto returned the attack with his own, finally getting his opponent to stop as they clash.

"Nee-chan?" Naruto asked surprised as he stared up at his big sister, noticing the change in her appearance as she stared him down with a menacing smile.

"Sorry about this Naruto." She said, but before Naruto could ask why he was kneed in the stomach lifted off the air as he lost his breath before Naruko grabbed his forehead and threw him down on the ground on his back. Keeping her grip on his head she also placed her other hand on his stomach where his seal would be.

_**"Oh you gotta be kidding me."** _

And then Naruto's mind went blank.

* * *

Naruto found himself back in the Kyuubi's lair, noticing that the Kyuubi was in her Beast form looking rather pissed off as she growled threateningly, but before Naruto could ask why he heard a voice next to him speak.

"So I finally get to meet you, Kyuubi, well I mean I technically have met the version of you that resides in me but she doesn't really talk much, instead preferring to try and run wild, keeps me up at night sometimes." looking at the voice Naruto found Naruko standing next to him, staring at the Kyuubi with her arms crossed, stern look on her face.

 **"Well, what do you expect, consider I can not have access to my full power it can't think, it's only instinct is to get out of the cage you put it in and find the piece of me that it can sense inside your Brother."** The Kyuubi replied with a growl.

"And that's why I came to talk to you, my Dad said that when Naruto or I used your power in the vicinity of one another than its possible the two halves would try and seek one another. I can feel my half getting more feistier every second I spend here." Naruko stated.

 **"Than you should leave."** The Kyuubi said in a threatening tone that made Naruto shiver a bit, but Naruko didn't back down.

"Oh I will, but first a warning, if you try and use that little knowledge to your advantage then you will feel my wrath. Naruto is my little Brother and if try anything that could harm him I will be coming after you." Naruko warned before Naruto felt her release a massive amount of Chakra, and noticed a change in her appearance once again as she now had a red coat covering her body and her pupils now had a yellowish color to them with orange like paint on the sides of her eyes.

 **"If you think your sage mode scares me then you are wrong, I know you haven't mastered it yet."** The Kyuubi chuckled before adding,  **"But I'll humor your little request, however I have a warning for you, if you miss-use my powers than you will know my rage, you will never be able to control it fully without my cooperation, so remember that."**

Staring each other down Naruko scoffed at the Kyuubi before turning around and facing her little brother grabbing his should she said, "Come on Naruto, let's leave." Before snapping her fingers. Leaving the Kyuubi alone as they disappeared, she really didn't like that girl.

* * *

"Ugh," Naruto groaned as he opened his eyes, noticing some familiar faces looking down at him.

"Sakura nee-chan?" Naruto asked as he saw the blossom-hair girl looking down at him, hands on his chest.

"Good you're awake, don't move, I'm checking your injuries." She replied, keeping her attention on healing him.

"Ugh, what happened?" Naruto groaned, mind a bit fuzzy.

"Naruko knocked you out." Ino stated as she leaned against a wall, Naruto noticed Hinata was also looking down at him with a look of concern on her face as his Sister stood next to her with a nervous smile.

"Why did you do that? And why are you all here anyway? And who was I fighting?"

"Well you kinda went a bit overboard using the Kyuubi's chakra and I didn't want to take any chances so I knocked you out when I noticed just how much you were letting out. As for why we are here, Mom asked us to look after you while you trained, and for who you fought, well why don't you ask him yourself." Naruko explained before motioning to the red hair person standing a bit away. Turning his head towards him Naruto could tell the man look familiar but he couldn't remember from where. As Sakura was finished with her healing Naruto sat up, the man approaching him as he extended his hand out to him.

"Hello there, my name is Gaara and I am the Kazekage."

Naruto eyes widened from the information, now remember why the man looked so familiar, taking his hand with his own Naruto smiled back as he greeted him as well, saying, "Whoa, my names Naruto, pleasure to meet you. But uh, why did attack me?"

"I did it to assess your abilities and test you, Shinobi can tell a lot about each other just from clashing with their fists." Gaara stated.

"Did I make a good first impression then?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Gaara replied

"Well then, I think your training is completed, Naruto." Sakura stated, ruffling the boys head playfully.

"So I can leave? Finally, I'm starving for some actual good food." Naruto stated, earning a chuckle from his Sister who brought him into a side hug.

"Me too, so let's get some Ichiraku Ramen." She said before turning to her other friends, "You guys wanna join us?"

"Nah, I gotta go stock up on some weapons."

"I gotta go help out in the Hospital."

"It's my shift in the Flower Shop."

"I need to take part in a Hyuuga meeting happening soon, but thank you for the offer."

Naruko saw each of her friends proceed to leave, Gaara being the only one left, eyeing him he said, "Thank you for the offer but I think I'll pass, I wish to stay here a bit longer."

"Ok then, take care." Naruko said before turning to Naruto, "Race you out of the forest."

"You're on!" Naruto shouted as they both sprinted.

* * *

"Kaasan, we're home!" Naruto shouted as he and Naruko walked through the door, satisfied stomachs from their stop at Ichiraku Ramen.

"Welcome back you two, I take it the training went well?" Kushina asked from the kitchen, back in her casual outfit as they took off their sandals.

"Yep, Naruto did pretty well from what I saw." Naruko praised, giving her little brother a proud smirk as she ruffled his hair a bit before saying, "Well if you don't mind, I'm gonna go wash up." Walking up the stairs she went into the bathroom.

Walking into the kitchen Naruto had a bit of an impatient look on his face as he asked, "So, when do I get my reward?"

"When I say so, I still need to talk to Sakura to get a full report on how you did." Kushina stated a bit sternly, but she noticed Naruto's face drop a bit, deciding to give him a small treat she said, "Don't worry, I'll make sure that you're reward will be enjoyable, but until then…" Taking his hand she lead him to the counter where she was preparing some food, adding a bit of sway to her hips as she walked, bending over slightly forward she wrapped Naruto's hands around her waist and added, "I would like your company while I prepare dinner, your Father can't make it tonight and I don't wanna eat alone, so what do you say, I'll let you hold me close like this whole time?" Pressing her covered ass a bit hard on his crotch, making Naruto tighten the grip he had around her, pressing her back against his front as he laid her head on her upper back, feeling each other's breathing like this.

"No worries Kaasan, I won't let you be lonely."

Kushina hummed happily at his words as they swayed slightly side to side as she worked on the food, making sure to lightly but surely grind herself a bit on him, grinning as she felt his erection rise up. Kushina enjoyed being held like this, even if it wasn't Minato it was someone she could trust, besides they didn't need to fear anyone walking in on them except Naruko, but she usually took long baths and showers so they had some time.

"So Naruto, anything interesting happen during your training?" Kushina asked as they ate dinner, him sitting on the other side of the table despite his protest of wanting her to sit on his lap, arguing that she had stated that he could hold her close the whole time. And while as much as she would've liked that, she couldn't spoil him too much, or herself for that matter as she was able to convince him to let go and sit on the other side.

"Yeah, I fought these giant animals, and I met the Kazekage," Naruto stated, making Kushina look at him a bit wide-eyed that he met Gaara already,  _'I'll ask Sakura about it tomorrow.'_

"My that's exciting anything else?"

"Oh yeah, I met the Goddess again!" Naruto exclaimed happily.

"The Goddess?" Kushina asked questionably.

"Yeah, remember during our first mission I told you how I saw a Goddess? I saw her again in the forest, and I think she likes me cause she didn't just disappear when I called out to her, I think I saw her smile but to be honest, my memory of the event is a bit fuzzy, but I'm differently sure I saw her again." Naruto explained excitedly, with a glint in his eyes.

' _Wait a minute, don't tell me he saw Hinata or one of the girls exposed, but if they did why'd they smile when he called out to whoever it was? Oh well, Naruto seems happy about it so I'll let it slide.'_  Kushina thought before deciding to tease her son a little and said, "Oh really, from the way you speak about her it seems like you like this Goddess, maybe even got a crush on her?"

Naruto felt his face flush up a bit in embarrassment, he did like this Goddess, but now that his Mother said it out loud he realized he did have a crush on her as well. Deciding it was best to just let his feelings out he said, "Yeah I guess I do, I would like to meet her again and actually have the chance to have a conversation with her."

"Well than Naruto, don't give up, if you already met her twice then I'm sure you'll run into each other once more soon enough, but just one thing before you do."

"What is it?"

"Remember to wear protection."

"Kaasan!" Naruto groaned loudly as Kushina laughed at her little wit and Son's embarrassment.

* * *

The next day Kushina visited the Hospital to visit a certain pink hair Medic, on her way in she bumped into a friend.

"Ah, Kushina-san, sorry I didn't see you."

"No problem Shizune-chan, how have you been?" Kushina greeted one of the proteges of the Legendary Sannin.

"Honestly, a bit hectic, with the Chunin Exams coming up there are ninja from all over coming here, bringing the number of patients up."

"Well I'm sure you can handle it," Kushina encouraged, giving her friend a bright smile before asking, "Oh by the way, do you know where I can find Sakura? I need to talk to her for a bit."

"She's upstairs working with one of the patients but she should be done soon." Shizune answered before saying, "I'd show you to exactly where she is but I have to help some patients."

"No problem, go do your job." Kushina replied before they both said their farewells, Kushina heading upstairs, taking a couple of minutes to find medic before she appeared right in front of her, hair done up in a short ponytail as she wore her doctor's coat.

"Ah Kushina-san, I assume you're here for the report on Naruto's training?"

"Yes, but if you're busy at the moment I can come back another time, I hear you are getting more patients than usual."

"Nah it's no problem, I was just going on my break now so this will help me pass the time, let's go talk in a more private place." Sakura stated, leading the Red-hair Uzumaki to her personal office, being a student of a Sannin who helped to run this Hospital did have its perks. Preparing both of them some tea they sat down by the window.

"So, how'd he do?" Kushina asked curiously wanting to know just how well her Son did on his own.

"Honestly, he was amazing. He knows how to take care of himself by himself, is smart with how he progressed around the forest and survived, and his pretty strong." Sakura stated as she took a sip of her drink.

"Well, that's nice, any good examples you can tell me?" Kushina said before taking a sip of her drink.

"Well, his stamina is ridiculous, though I guess that's to be expected since he is Naruko's brother but even so I was impressed, he fought a giant Centipede for more than 5 hours, and that thing was no joke."

"Did this Centipede happen to be missing any of its legs?"

"Yes actually, why?"

"Cause Naruto fought that same Centipede the first day in the Forest, guess it was looking for him for payback."

"Well the only thing it got was death, though I have to give that Centipede credit for fighting as long as it did, that thing would be a threat even for Chunin."

Kushina smirked happily as she took a sip of her tea. "Hmm, well anything else of importance?"

Sakura gave her a knowing smile. "Well two things actually, Naruto sparred with the Kazekage and actually did pretty good considering how impressed Gaara seemed."

"And the other part?" Kushina question.

"Well, during his fight with Gaara, he used some of the Kyuubi's Chakra." Sakura stated, making Kushina eye her intensely.

"Did he control it?" She asked, she never actually saw how well Naruto control the Kyuubi's chakra back during their first mission so an eyewitness account would be very helpful.

"As far as I could tell, yeah, though Naruko still didn't want to take any chances so after Naruto went after the real Gaara not knowing who he was, Naruko subdued him, but that wasn't the strangest part." Sakura said, Kushina listing closely, "When Naruto went into his Kyuubi state, it seemed to affect Naruko a bit cause she slightly transformed as well, though she didn't notice it until we pointed it out."

"I see." Kushina responded, she remembered how Minato told her one of the possible side effects of the two halves of the Kyuubi would be how they would react when in the vicinity of one another, possibly drawing the other out.

Getting up Kushina extended her hand to Sakura who took it with her own, "Thanks Sakura for looking after my little boy, I really owe you one, and thanks for reporting all this to me."

Shaking her hand Sakura tried to be humble in response. "No need to thank me Kushina-san, it was my pleasure. It was a nice break watching over Naruto with the girls, felt like a nice bonding experience."

"Well if I ever need help training him again I'll make sure to keep you in mind."

"Thanks Kushina-san, it would be my pleasure."

And with that they departed, Kushina went on her way home, proud of how well her Son did on his own and one thought on her mind,  _'He is getting such a good reward tonight.'_

* * *

Kushina snuck carefully around the house, careful not to disturb anyone as she wore her robe. Minato still not home as and wouldn't be for a while, and Naruko was a deep sleeper, Naruto could be one too so that's why she told him to stay up a little late tonight, the look on his face when she whispered it to him told her how excited he was. Quietly she opened his door, making sure not to make a sound as she closed it and walked in, seeing her son looking at her with an exciting look as he was just in his PJs with the only light in the room being from his lamp.

"What's my reward, Kaasan?!" Naruto asked excited, his tone a bit too loud.

"Keep it down, Naruto, don't want anyone possibly hearing us." Kushina hushed him, while she could but a simple sound sealing jutsu to keep the noise in this room from reaching out, she thought it would be more fun to have that little edge.

"Sorry." Naruto apologized

"Now, sit down on the edge of the bed." Kushina ordered as Naruto did just that, slowly undoing her robes she let them fall to the ground, revealing her red nightgown which hugged snuggly to her body, the bottom only reaching to her upper thighs as she posed a bit for Naruto, smirking as she saw the tent in his pants. "Now then, enjoy the show."

Sensually walking forward she swayed her hips before she was right in front of him. Bring a hand to his face she sensually cupped his cheek, giggling inward from the look of awe on his face before proceeding to sway her hips widely while turning around, presenting her round ass to his face, making sure to pull up her gown a bit so that her butt would be fully out for him, her red thong sinking into her cheeks leaving plenty of flesh for him to view.

Turning her head to him she smirked before bringing her hand down on her ass, making it jiggle on display for him, the look of awe on his face made Kushina feel hot, "You can grab it you know."

Getting permission Naruto immediately took a hold of her supple flesh, her checks being bigger than his hand could take a hold of as his fingers sunk a bit softly into it, his Mother giving a giggle. Kushina let out sweat sighs as Naruto's hands used her ass, he made it jiggle and bounce in the palm of his hands. Getting hotter she suddenly sat down on his lap, Naruto moaning a bit as her soft cheeks were pressed right atop of his covered erection before she started to grind herself on him, pressing her back against his chest.

"Like that Naruto?" She asked, her hands placed atop of his as he held her shapely hips.

"Yeah, feels good." Naruto responded, a bit dazed from the pleasure at how she moved, the way she grinded on him with the friction she produced on his crotch felt overwhelming that he had to clutch her hips tightly to hold onto something.

"Well then, I got something even better, I'm so proud of your performance in the Forest of Death that I decided to give you a little piece of what doing it can feel like." Kushina told him.

"How?"

"First take out that little tool of yours." Kushina pressing her butt even harder against his crotch for him to get the point before raising it up a bit. Naruto getting what she meant freed his hard shaft from its confinement.

Kushina felt his hot rod poking one of her cheeks, the heat it was emanating making Kushina shiver from anticipation, grabbing both her buttcheeks with a hand each she spread them a bit open, the string of her thong digging even deeper as his rod dug a bit deeper into the crevis. "Now Naruto, enjoy this while it last."

Kushina letting go of her hold on her butt as the outer part clenched together around Naruto's shaft. Kushina let out a light moan from the feeling while Naruto groan, Kushina could feel how big he was, and it made her get wetter, forming a dark spot on her panties.

"Ready Naruto?"

"Yeah."

And with that Kushina began to move back and forward, up and down, rubbing her behind aginst his lap, his rod , her flesh sliding against his shaft as she bounced around, her ass smacking as she slammed herself down on his thighs, giggling inwards as he heard his groans while she let out light pants, this was a bit pleasurable for her two.

Naruto though felt like he was in heaven, the way his Mother looked as she bounced around, his shaft held between her cheeks as the sfot flesh held tightly around him, the side of her massive breasts bouncing as well in this dimly lighted room made him feel so close to his fantasies as he grapped her wide hips, helping to move her. But then he could feel his member start to twitch, a clear sign he was close. Kushina could feel it as well along with the way he held on tighter, and as much as she wanted to feel him release all over her back, she had to stop.

On one of her up thrusts, she proceeded to quickly remove herself from Naruto as she stood up, Naruto whining as he felt all the pleasure gone and only tension from his near release pleasant.

Putting on her best teasing smirk she looked at him over her shoulder, "You were close weren't you? Don't be mad, I said I would give you a feel of what it's like, I never said I'd let you finish."

Naruto just gave her an angry hurt stare, not exactly mad at her but more so her actions, and Kushina couldn't help but find it a bit adorable. "Oh don't give me that face Naruto, how about this, depending on how well you do on the Chunin Exams, I'll give you that release along with more, but that all depends on how far you make it."

Naruto's angry stare was immediately turned into one of determination as he stated, "Just you watch Kaasan! I'll go above and beyond your expectations."

"I don't doubt it Honey, but I'll be on my way, you can finish by yourself for now." Kushina stated as she left and closed the door.

 _'Man that was close, I need to let off some steam before I do these things, but gods was it hot.'_  Kushina thought as she walked back to her room, rubbing her thighs a bit.

But in Naruko's room, the bombshell of a blonde was tossing in her bed, covers were thrown over and panties moved to the side as she fingered herself at breakneck speeds, moans, and whines being muffled as best she could as she covered her face with a pillow. She didn't know why but she felt like she needed a release as soon as possible as some sort of daze came over her, and this wasn't the first time. For the last couple of weeks it's been like this, out of nowhere she would feel, hot and bothered. While most of the time it was like an itch she could wait to scratch, this time it was much more, she needed a release not knowing her Brother was doing the same thing in his room.

As Naruto used his hand to pump his shaft he suddenly felt, in sync, as he was connected with something, Naruko felt it as well, both doing their best to keep up their moments as they let out a moan, releasing at the same time.

But during that release, they each said a name, a name they thought would never be uttered in an act like this.

"Naruto"

"Naruko"

After their release, they each collapsed on the bed, tired from it, but both with one thought on their mind.

_'Why did I say that name?'_


	8. Final Preperations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last part of the Chunin Exam Preparation arc or what-not I've been doing for the last few chapters. Really liking the story I've come up with this arc, and I hope you guys will too! By the time this arc ends, we should have had a good amount of progress with Naruto's harem candidates, and actual add one to the darn thing as well, though admittedly that part won't happen for a couple of chapters. I'm bringing in a good number of side characters for this thing arc, and teasing some of the bigger ones. And just so you all know, the next few chapters, including this one, are gonna be more story/action, so not as much as the lewd/smutty stuff I've been incorporating for the story so far. So get ready, cause I'll be kicking the story into high-gear for the next couple of chapters!

"Kaa-san, where are we going?" Naruto asked his Sensei as they both walked past their usual training grounds route, instead of going into Training grounds 64.

"Well, as you know, the Chunin Exam is usually done in teams of 3, now this time for some reason it can be done in teams of 2-3, so talking to some people I found you a partner to take the exam with." Kushina told him before seeing two figures off in the distance, "Ah, look they're already here."

As they walked closer Naruto saw the two figures, they each had a similar build, but one was taller than the other and stood in the back, while the other one seemed around his height and had short dark brown hair with a tan vest jacket over her chest. As they got closer Naruto recognized the taller person as Hinata, while the shorter one was…

"Hanabi?"  
"Naruto?"

"Naruto, you remember Hanabi, she'll be your partner for the Chunin Exam," Kushina told him, Hinata just smiling innocently in the background.

The two of them looked at each other surprised, definitely not expecting the other to be their partner for the exam. The two have been, on well OK terms, but they wouldn't really call each other friends more than rivals, especially considering the first time they met they challenged each other to a duel, one that they never got to finish, causing them to bicker with each other when they did meet.

But Kushina cut off their thinking as she said, "Now, as much as I'm sure you'll both want to catch up, the Exams start in less than 3 days, so you two need to work on your teamwork to see how good you can work together and what you need to improve on."

"How are we gonna do that?" Hanabi asked.

"By fighting both of us," Kushina informed her with a sweet smile before adding and pulling out two small bells, "Or more specifically, trying to take away bell from each us before sundown." She added, before tossing one of the bells to Hinata who caught it and clipped it onto a part of her hip.

"Easy enough." Hanabi stated as she immediately charged at Kushina, thinking she could take her by surprise quick enough but just as she was about to kick her, her foot was grabbed. Looking to her right she saw Hinata give her a disappointing look.

"You're still too hot-headed, she never even said start yet." Hinata berated her before tossing her in Naruto's direction, the blonde catching her and putting her down. They gave each other a look before nodding, they might not have been the best of friends, and gotten on each other's nerves a good amount of times, but they knew they had to work together to win.

"Ah that's better, the only way you'll get the bells is by working together, so then, let's begin," Kushina stated before bringing her thumb to her mouth and biting it, drawing some blood before quickly creating some seals and bringing the hand down on the ground.

"Sealing Style Water release: Wave Prison!" The Red hair shouted as a gush of water big enough to engulf both of them headed in there direction.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted, a clone appearing in front of him and Hanabi before grabbing both of their hands, jumping up and throwing them upwards with impressive strength, saving them both from the wave but not itself as it puffed away once the water reached it.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!" Hinata called out as she activated her Byakugan and extended her palm out, a gush of wind rushing in their direction.

Activating her Byakugan as well, Hanabi got into the best stance she could in the air before calling out the same attack as well, "Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!". Extending her palm out the same as her sister. The two gusts of air collided with each other, and while Hinata's won out, Hanabi's had weakened it enough for her and Naruto to not have taken the full brunt of it. Landing on their feet a couple of meters away they stood their ground as they saw Kushina and Hinata get in one as well.

"I'm guessing neither of us really has a plan yet." Naruto joked in a worried tone.

"Let's just survive for now, see if we can't find something to use." Hanabi replied, fighting her sister would be hard enough, but with the wife of the Hokage as well, her eyes were gonna be sore in the morning.

* * *

"Man, Hinata, you're not holding back." Kushina pointed out as the Bluenette threw Naruto and Hanabi at a nearby lake, a couple of hours already having past but still some time left before sundown.

Turning to face her Hinata replied, "While I won't say I enjoy doing this, if I don't hold back it'll make them likely to work together."

Both of them sensing the multitude of Chakra forming from inside the lake they each focused their attention to the water, seeing a multitude of Naruto's jumping up into the air with Hanabi behind them.

"Well, at least it's working." Kushina stated as Hanabi started to hit each clone towards them with a Vacuum Palm, making them rush towards Hinata and Kushina with breakneck speeds as missile-like projectiles. Getting in front of Kushina, the two of them used the same trick they did on Orochimaru's snakes. Hinata protecting the two of them with a Protective Eight Trigrams wall before Kushina brought out her blade and sliced the remaining clones. The original Naruto and Hanabi feeling the shockwave and power from the swing as it forced them back a bit.

"We need to fall back for now." Naruto stated, Hanabi agreeing before the two of them threw smoke balls to hide in.

"Hinata." Kushina ordered as the Bluenette used her Byakugan to see inside the smoke, but was surprised to not only see Naruto created a couple of clones, but that Hanabi had closed and covered her eyes as something was thrown out of the smoke in her direction.

"Hinata close your eyes!" Kushina warned as the Bluenette did but wasn't able to deactivate her Byakugan in time as even with closed eyelids she felt blinded by the giant bright light of the flash grenade, but just as it was over her eyes needed to readjust for a bit, before seeing that Naruto and the clones had all gone off in different directions, and with the flashbang throwing off her senses a bit she couldn't tell which one was the original or who was with Hanabi.

"They got us." Kushina spoke as Hinata rubbed her eyes a bit.

"Should we go after them?" She asked.

"No, let them come to us." Kushina replied as the two went under a tree to rest.

* * *

"You good?" Naruto asked Hanabi as they got away, the latter currently holding on to him as she tried to get her sense straight, Hyuuga eyes were more sensitive than most, so even if she was prepared for the flashbang, it still did a number, especially when she didn't have as much on-field experience with it.

"Yeah, think we got away?" She wondered as she held on.

"I think, we should rest for now, get our strength back." He suggested while slowing down.

"Yeah," Hanabi agreed as they stopped before he stopped at the top of a pretty tall tree, letting her down from his back as they both sat down on the bushy top.

"So, got any ideas?" The Uzumaki asked as he huffed his breath, realizing just how tired he was from all the fighting.

"Honestly, no, fighting one of them would be hard enough, but with them both it's hard to find an opening we can take." Hanabi mused with a sigh.

"Well, we still got a couple of more hours till sundown, let's take an hour to rest and regain our energy." Naruto advised before pulling out a scroll, taking some blood he got from all the fighting to use as he opened the scroll and put his blood on the seal inside. Releasing from the scroll some first aid supplies and a couple of snacks.

"I didn't know you could use Fuinjutsu?" Hanabi questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, my Mom taught me a couple of handy tricks, though I'm still nowhere skilled as her I can use it to seal a couple of small stuff like supplies, though nothing major enough to really help us during battle." Naruto explained before picking up a bar of energy protein and some medical alcohol before tossing it to Hanabi. "Here"

Catching it she used some of the alcohol to clean some of the wounds she suffered, while she probably would've been fine without it, better to be safe than sorry, wincing a bit as the liquid touched her wounds, "Thanks."

Taking a bite out of one of the snacks Naruto smiled back, "No problem, we're gonna be partners for a while so might as well get along."

With that the two mostly sat in silence, resting their aching muscles while thinking of ways to pass the test. Naruto thought about contacting the Kyuubi to see if she could help, but when he tried, he got nothing in response. Halfway through their break, Naruto decided to strike up a conversation and bond a bit with his teammate.

"So, how has your life as a Ninja been so far? I know you got to become a ninja a bit earlier due to your status and skill, so what's it been like?" Naruto questioned.

Hanabi sighed at the question, clearly not liking her answer, "Honestly, not great, I may have been a ninja first, but I haven't been on any real missions. Its just mostly been the same old clan stuff except this time I get a headband to wear." She told him, pointing towards the leaf headband she wore around her neck like her sister.

"Man, that sounds boring" Naruto commented, to which Hanabi nodded back.

"Yeah, it's why I was so adamant in taking these Exams, it would have been the only way for me to be a real Ninja, maybe show the clan I can represent the clan myself instead of having to do what they tell me. But at first, while my Father was skeptical, the elders were against it, said it was too much of a risk for me to participate." Hanabi explained.

"So how'd you convince them?" Naruto wondered.

"I didn't, my Sister and Neji did." Hanabi answered before adding, "They overheard my predicament and by god knows what means, convinced them to let me participate, on the condition that I train with them to get ready."

"Well, that's nice of them." Naruto stated, glad that he personally knew the two of them.

"Yep, though those training sessions were a nightmare, I felt like my eyes and hands would explode from all of the training and sparring, Neji never lets up on me, though Hinata seemed a little out of it at times." Hanabi commented, still a bit curious at the reason for her older Sister's daydreams before looking at the Blonde Uzumaki, "What about you? You haven't exactly had the normal Genin experience either."

Naruto chuckled a bit from her question, "Well you're not wrong, my first Mission turned to go way above my skill level, though luckily I got to learn a couple of things from it. And besides the odd mission every now and then, my Mom has gotten me training like hell in preparation, heck a couple of days ago she threw me in the Forest of Death for a while by myself."

"Damn, that's harsh." Hanabi commented.

"Well it all worked out in the end, and I got some really good experience from it, especially in the forest of Death, thankfully my Mom got my sister and some of her friends to watch over me, like Hinata and Sakura, and I heck, I even met the Kazekage." Naruto exclaimed.

"Whoa." Hanabi replied a bit shocked, also now knowing where her Sister was a couple of days ago, but then she realized something.

"Wait, so you've been training non-stop with your Mother for the past month, right?" The Hyuuga asked.

"Uh, yeah, pretty much." Naruto asked, a bit confused by the question.

"And I've been training with Hinata almost constantly for a month as well." Hanabi stated.

"Where are you going with this?" Naruto question as he knew she was on to something.

Hanabi though had a smile on her face as she said, "That's how they're able to take us on so easily! Hinata knows what I'm gonna do, and your Mom knows what you're gonna do!"

Getting what she was saying Naruto added, "So if we want to catch them off guard…"

"We have to separate them and switch opponents!" Hanabi finished.

Realizing what they had to do now the two Genin looked at each other with a look of determination before beginning to formulate their plan of attack.

* * *

"We're surrounded." Hinata informed Kushina as they were inside the forest, both on opposite sides of the same tree.

"How many?" Kushina questioned as she got up and grabbed her sword.

"Can't tell, Naruto's having his clones disperse than summoned, constantly changing the amount while still keeping his chakra, its also leaving his chakra all over the place as they return to the remaining clones and going out to the knew one, messing with my vision." Hinata explained as she got into a battle stance, still looking for Hanabi in her range but finding no signs of her.

"So he's trying to surprise us by either having us overwhelmed or sending a small batch to test us." Kushina believed as she closed her eyes and focused her senses while waiting for them to appear.

"I don't see Hanabi anywhere, it's possible they're having Naruto engage us first to focus on him while Hanabi sneaks up to surprise us." Hinata suggested.

"Well then we better be on alert, don't know what they could've planned for us while they rested." Kushina warned as they both fell silent, hearing the sound of the multiple Naruto's get closer and closer. And then, the sound of multiple metal objects moving was heard.

"Kushina!" Hinata warned as they heard the sound of Kunai and Shurikens being thrown. The two planted their feet in the ground. Hinata using her Protective 64 Palm to block the attacks on her side, shorting the distance of her vision as she focused on defense. Kushina meanwhile added some wind chakra to her blade as she spun it around in front of her, blowing most of the Kunai away and back from where they came from, smirking as she heard the sound of multiple clones dispersing.

But just as the wave of attacks stopped, a new wave began. And just as Kushina was about to blow away the second group of projectiles were about to be blown away, they transformed into Naruto's, the added weight and surprise making Kushina pause just long for the clones to get closer than before.

_'Shoot!'_ Kushina realized as she began her attack again, stopping the horde of clones in their tracks, but just as they were all about to be blown away they all pulled something out of their back pouches, _'Paper Bombs!'_

Kushina could only dig in her feet as she spun the blade as fast as she could, but not fast enough as all the clones smirked at her before the bombs detonated, the force of the blast mostly blown away from Kushina, though just enough of it went towards her to catch her off balance and push her back against the tree. _'Damn it!'_ The Red-hair mused.

Hearing and partially seeing what happened behind her Hinata slowed down the speed of her palms, if the Naruto's on her side had the same plans than she needed to take them out before they could get close enough, "Water needle!" She shouted as a multitude of water like needles made of chakra shot from her palms in multiple directions, taking out the projectiles the Naruto's had thrown at her before they were close enough.

But this caused her to neglect her vision in one specific area, one area that wasn't protected by her barrier, below. So you can imagine the surprise she had when she heard the ground under her crack and a hand pop out, grabbing her ankle tightly. She didn't even have time to scream before it pulled her forward, the ground opening to show a line of Naruto under the ground, all holding onto each other in a line as she was pulled from her spot at breakneck forces the Naruto's were pulled deep into the forest.

"AHHH!" Hinata was able to scream as she was pulled away, Kushina barely hearing her, realizing what had happened. The shock caused from that and the previous explosion by the paper bombs had cut down her defenses and slow down the speed of her blade just enough for the next attack to hit her.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!" Hanabi announced from a good distance away, still not in the sight of Kushina as she used her Byakugan to aim her attack. The vacuum-shell of her thrust traveling just fast enough to catch Kushina off guard, knocking her Katana out of her hand putting her more off balance.

And this gave the Naruto under the ground the chance he needed. Doing the same as the other clone did to Hinata, Kushina decided to give Naruto this win, not putting up much of fight as she pulled deep into the forest, opposite of Hinata as they were both separated from each other.

* * *

As Hinata felt herself flung deep into the forest she finally was able to release the grip the clone had on her ankle, a strong kick to the head taking it out and freeing her, though she was already going so fast that she didn't have time celebrate as she braced herself, hitting a couple of trees which slowed her down.

The Hyuuga grunted in pain as she finally came to a stop, the parts of her body which had slowed her down now aching in pain. But she had to ignore them as she got into a fighting stance, dozens of Naruto's charging at her.

"Haaa!" They shouted as they surrounded her, hoping to have caught her enough off guard to grab the bell. But as they got closer Hinata noticed a similar sensation under her, jumping up just in time as a Naruto popped out of the ground in an attempt to grab her. Swiftly kicking the clone down Hinata found herself in the air, a notion that all the Naruto's seemed to plan on as they jumped at her.

Thinking fast Hinata used the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm at the ground in an effort to push herself up. Giving her enough lift to get above the first clone that reached her. Using him as a platform to jump off of Hinata proceed to gain some height on all the clones, eventually reaching high enough attack as she spun around and shouted, "Water Needle!" Raining down a barrage of projectiles at the clones, taking out the ones who couldn't find cover soon enough.

But as she landed on her feet one question was on Hinata's mind, _'Where's the original?'_ _._ Taking out the clones that charged after her with quick swipes of her palm Hinata was starting to think the original wasn't in her area, perhaps helping Hanabi take out Kushina first? But as the number of clones dwindled down around her, one quick strike she thought would take out the clone which tried to attack behind her, didn't work.

"Got you!" Naruto cried out as he locked fist with Hinata, each one trying to overpower the other as they looked at each other.

_'Guess I found the original.'_ Hinata thought as the two locked blows while staring each other down.

* * *

Back with Kushina, the Jonin decided she had let Naruto take her far enough, with a quick swipe of her foot she released the clones hold on her, using her skills to bounce off the trees in an attempt to slow her down. Finally stopping she quickly made a couple of hand signs and placed them up against a tree, shriveling up the nearby bark as she pulled some of the water the tree had stored out, transforming the liquid into a makeshift sword.

_'It's been a while since I've had to use this as a replacement, wonder if I can remember all the little tricks for it?'_ The Uzumaki wondered as she noticed she was surrounded by dozens of Naruto's, with Hanabi in front of her.

"I've got to say, I'm impressed by both of you two, separating me and Hinata was a smart move, though don't think it'll just be a cakewalk." Kushina warned as she got into a battle stance, excited to see what the two would try to do.

"I wouldn't want it any other way, this is suppose to help us train after all." Hanabi declared before shouting, "OK boys, let's get her!"

And with that, the Naruto's charged. Kushina smirking as she proceeded to cut them down swiftly with her water sword, while she wasn't able to move it around with as much precision as her usual katana, she was able to compensate for it by changing the shape of it slightly to make it longer or shorter when needed. But after more than three-fourths of the Naruto's were dispatched of, Hanabi joined the action, charging at the Red-hair Jonin as she concentrated her chakra in the palms of her hands, ready to use her Gentle Fist.

Wondering to see if Hanabi could tell what she could with her skills, Kushina swung her sword at her, making it slow down just enough for her to counter-attack. Sidestepping from the attack Hanabi quickly thrust her fingers at the water-sword, her index and middle finger making contact with the surface of it, creating a ripple through the water and causing it lose it shape as most of the water except at the handle as the rest fell to the floor as Kushina used her other arm to parry the thrust directed at her stomach.

"Impressive." Kushina praised her as they traded blows with their taijutsu, while Kushina wouldn't call herself an expert in hand to hand combat, she could still hold her own. Making sure to keep Hanabi's attack nowhere near her vital points.

"Surprised? The gentle fist can disrupt Chakra in many forms, not just in your body." Hanabi boosted as she tried to land a hit on Kushina while avoiding her hits as well, though it was clear the Jonin was holding back as she was still able to take out the Naruto clones which tried to attack her with quick kicks or swipes, never giving Hanabi enough of an opening.

"Not really, though it's still impressive you can do it, guess that goes to show how skilled you are in the Hyuuga, though considering your status, it should be a given." Kushina stated before giving the Hyuuga a rather powerful kick to the stomach that set her in the air a few feet back.

Hanabi felt the windblown at of her as one of the Naruto clones caught her, with it and another getting in front of them to provide her a chance to get recover while they held Kushina back, though they didn't last for long as Kushia effortless disposed of them with two quick kicks.

Getting back into a fighting stance Hanabi stared at the other Kunoichi as she walked towards her with a stride in her step, "I warned you this wouldn't be easy, but to be fair, I have had to put more effort than I thought I would into this fight." Kushina praised as she raised her fist in a fighting stance a few feet away before adding, "So let's see how much more effort you can make me use?"

"Hyyaaahhh!" Hanabi cried as she charged at Kushina, the Jonin mentally praising her for her drive as the two proceeded to trade blows.

* * *

"Come on Naruto-kun! You'll need more than this to pass the Chunin Exams!" Hinata stated as two traded blows, Hinata had to admit, Naruto was surprisingly good at Taijutsu, and though while his form was nowhere as precise as the Hyuuga's, the blonde differently could hold his own, in his own strange way, just like his sister.

"If you think this is all I got that you're mistaking Hinata nee-chan!" Naruto declared as he felt even more fired up, wanting to show her what he could do as he had his clones come in. Hinata struggled a bit as she took on the 5 Naruto's which attacked her, being on the defense as she didn't have time to counter-attack. As soon as one of them was done attacking she would have to defend against the next.

But once two clones tried to attack her from either side Hinata saw an opening, swiping her hands at her sides she was able to dispatch the two clones quick enough to move forward and jump up into a spinning leg kick, taking out the the other 2 clones as the Original Naruto charged and jumped at her.

"Ahhh!" He cried as he threw a fist while Hinata extended her palm towards his chest, the attacks passing each other as they each gave it everything they got. The attacks collided with their targets at the same time, Naruto's fist hitting her cheek while Hinata's palm landed on his chest. And while Hinata had to admit Naruto's attack hurt she decided to give Naruto a little payback for all the trees she hit when he pulled her deep into the forest.

Feeling the build up of chakra around his chest Naruto could only stay still in the air for a moment as Hinata looked him in the face with a sweet yet sorry smile as she told him, "Sorry Naruto-kun." Before shouting, "Vacuum Palm Cannon!"

Naruto felt himself blasted from the force as he was sent flying the opposite direction, crashing through a couple of trees before stopping, feeling the air blasted out of his lungs as he slid down to the bottom of the tree, trying to regain his bearings as he saw Hinata walk closer from the distance, seemingly regretting how much force she put into the blast.

But as Naruto felt like he was starting to get himself back together, he heard a scream come from the other side of the tree.

"AHHHHHHHHHH" Hanabi cried as she grunted when landing on the opposite side of the tree, covered in bruises from her fight as Kushina walked forward, a couple of scrapes here and there on her body but nowhere near as bad as Hanabi.

"Not looking to good either, huh?" Naruto joked on the other side as he got up and went to give her a hand.

"Shut up, not like you did any better." She grumbled as she took it, picking herself up as they stood back to back, watching as their opponents stood on either side of them again.

When Kushina and Hinata saw each other they gave the other a nod and disappearing so fast that Naruto and Hanabi barely had time to process it before they reappeared right in front of them. Hinata and Kushina raised their hands and threw it so fast that all Naruto and Hanabi could do was brace for the impact, but it never came. Instead, Kushina and Hinata had their hands on their shoulders, giving them both wide smile and saying, "You passed."

The statement came so sudden to the two Genin that when they were able to process it, they felt all the fatigue from the day's activity come as they both slumped down on the floor, backs still against each other as they breathed out a sigh of relief.

* * *

Naruto was currently sitting by a campfire drying himself a bit more after his quick wash, the night sky starting to take effect while Hanabi washed up at a nearby pond. Kushina had insisted the two spend the night alone to bond, she and Hinata also got the two some nice food as a reward before they left, saying they be back tomorrow.

Naruto poking the campfire, was lost in thought about the upcoming events, _'Tomorrow me and Hanabi will have to work on finalizing our teamwork, how to act, but will two days really be enough for us to have enough trust in each other for the Chunin Exams?'_

But before he could dwell on it any further Hanabi returned, no longer wearing her Tan vest, leaving her in just her in a sleeveless, blue v-neck shirt with mesh-armour underneath; blue shorts and sandals. And without the vest, Naruto had to admit he was noticing how Hanabi and Hinata might look similar in a couple of years, her breast while not abnormally large, seemed to be filling out faster than others. As she sat down drying her head a bit more with the towel Naruto quickly realized how much he was staring, making sure to readjust his position to hide his growing erection while averting his eyes, silence looming between them.

"So, good job today, I guess." Hanabi spoke first, trying to strike up a conversation that could helpfully get rid of the awkwardness still between them as she awkwardly held one of her knees close.

Looking back at her Naruto chuckled, hoping to make it less awkward than this was, "Yeah, we both did good today, even if we didn't get the bells in the end."

"Yeah, well considering who we were up against, it's pretty amazing how long we held out." Hanabi replied, giving him a light smile which Naruto returned, but then her face dropped down as a look of worry came on it as she said, "Do you think we actually have a chance at the Chunin Exams?"

Naruto was a bit surprised that Hanabi had the same worries as him, even more so that she was sharing it, but he decided he needed to put on a brave face, if one of them started doubting themselves, the other would have to help them, unless this team wouldn't work.

"What makes you say that? I mean think about it, we're both talent Ninja with amazing teachers that have each faced hardships that most people our age would never have dealt with." Naruto tried to praise both of them, making sure to flash a bright smile.

"Yeah but, this year it seems the exams are changing, and no one knows the reason why, and with the horror story Konohamaru's team told when they failed their exams last time and what our Sister's went through with theirs, I feel like its only getting harder." Hanabi stated.

"Hey, Konohamaru himself said he was overconfident, and besides he still made it to the end of the Second part, he just decided to not go on to the third cause he felt like him and his team weren't ready, and he didn't want to risk them getting hurt. " Naruto explained about their Sarutobi-clan friend before continuing on, "And what our Sister's faced on their first time was due to Orochimaru screwing with the exams, and even then they still gave it there all, we have to too."

But this didn't seem to have much on an affect on Hanabi, "It's not just that, we're both from High Status, your the Son of the Hokage and Sister of Naruko, I'm the Clan Heiress of the Hyuuga, everyone will be looking at us, and they'll be trying to take us down with everything they got to prove themselves."

Naruto was starting to get what was bothering her so much, "It's about your clan, huh?"

Hanabi sighed from his words, "I told you how Neji and Hinata were able to convince the elders to let me participate, but even so, if I don't do well, or if something goes wrong, they'll use it against me somehow, and my Father won't be able to protect me."

Naruto could hear how personal this was to her as she continued, "They're trying to mold me, make me into the best Heiress for the clan, but lately I've been trying to take the lead. And they don't like that. Me participating in this exam is a statement, that I don't need their help to succeed, but if I don't, then it'll just reinforce their beliefs."

Naruto took a bit to let her words sink in, closing his eyes for a moment he figured out what he needed to say, "You can't think of yourself as Hanabi Hyuuga, Heiress of the Hyuga Clan, you've got to just be Hanabi Hyuuga, aspiring Kunoichi." This got Hanabi attention as he continued, "I may be the son of the Fourth of Hokage, but that doesn't mean I'm just some copy of him. Ever since I was a kid, my family, even though I love'em, was always the reason people thought I would be something big one day, even among most of the Villagers who don't like me. But never was it about, well, me, I wasn't praised on my own merits by most, it wasn't because of my work, it was because of where I came from. It's why as a kid I was, well, bratty and obnoxious, making myself seem bigger than I was, overselling myself, and pulling pranks on the Village to make them know it didn't matter where I came from. Man when I think back on it, no wonder you didn't like me at first, I got on your nerves a lot, didn't I?"

Hanabi smirked at his words, "Well, yes but I did give you some guts, or stupidity, can't remember which, not many people would openly mock the Hyuuga, and even fewer would dare vandalize their property with paint like you did."

"Yep, pretty sure that was the first time I ever had Hinata actually get mad at me." Naruto winced a bit at the memory, remember how shocked he was seeing his Sister's shy, sweet and loving friend give him a glare that he though only his Mother could have, "I had to spend the rest of the day cleaning it up."

"Hey, she did help you halfway through, Hinata's always had a soft spot for you." Hanabi replied, while she and Naruto got on each other's nerves, she never understood the what she felt like was deep hatred for Naruto by most of the other Hyuuga, luckily they didn't dare try and do anything with Hinata there, it was probably why she was so close to him, to protect him now that she thought.

"Yeah, she did." Naruto thought back on his time with the Blue-hair Hyuuga, besides his family, Hinata was probably one of the nicest people to him, she always tried to help him and let him have fun, be a kid even when the other kids didn't want to go near him thanks to their parents. Probably why she introduced him to Hanabi, and even though it didn't go smoothly, he remembered hearing her tell his sister that, _"While it wasn't what I hoped for, it went better than I expected."_

Getting his thoughts back together he continued, "What I'm trying to say is, out there, don't think of us from where we came from, just think about making people know who YOU are."

Hanabi felt like she could take his words to heart, and they made her feel a bit more confident, "Thanks."

"No problem, as teammates we gotta look at for each other, but as friends, we gotta make sure to help each other." Naruto told her.

But one word stuck to Hanabi, "Friends?" She asked, not knowing if she had heard him correctly.

"Yeah, I know we used to get on each other's nerves, but today, that trust we formed, and the talk we're having now, made me realize that despite our outburst at each other when we were kids, I never really hated them, and I enjoyed your company, while the other kids would ignore me, treat me like I wasn't there, you bickered with me, like a regular kid would." Naruto explained.

Hanabi was silent, when she looked back she didn't have many interactions with those her age, most of the kids in the Hyuuga clan saw her status first, and based their interactions with her on that. But like Naruto said, they would bicker with each other, like normal kids would. Hugging her knees a bit closer she said, "Thanks, for calling me your friend."

Naruto smiled back, "No problem."

And with those words said, the two felt their trust in each other grow, and they felt ready to take on the Chunin Exams, despite what they thought a couple of minutes prior.

* * *

"I'm not gonna help you."

"What?"

"I said I'm not gonna help you."

"Help me with what!?" Naruto asked the Kyuubi, one second he and Hanabi were about to sleep and the next he found himself pulled here with no warning.

"I mean I'm not gonna help you with the Chunin Exams!" The Kyuubi screamed back as she had a bit of red Chakra surround her form while her hair seemed to float a bit, the force of her voice making Naruto raise an arm up and step back a bit.

"Why?" Naruto asked, not knowing why she would pull him in here to tell him that.

The Kyuubi though, snorted at his response as she crossed her arms under her bust, an annoyed look on her face as she said, "I've been letting you tap into too much of my power recently, either as a crutch in your training or just to pull you out in a pinch. I can only hold so much here without my regular full form and if I let you continue to take it at the rate you're are, you're not gonna have it when you need it most. You may not have much time before the exam to find some sort of replacement, but at least for the first half, do your best to keep yourself out of trouble. You did say you wanted to show the world who you are, so use your own skills, not just my own."

Naruto was a bit surprised, but when he thought about it, she was right about him using too much of her power. "Yeah, looking back, I can see that," Naruto admitted, hand rubbing the back of his head as he expressed an embarrassed face.

Rolling her eyes at him the Kyuubi turned around, beginning to walk away with a sway to her hip with her long legs, all natural as it seemed she didn't put so much of a thought into her movements before stopping and turning her face at him, "Oh and by the way, don't try and contact me during the first half of the exam either, need some time to myself, ok?"

"Oh yeah, sure." Naruto replied, the Kyuubi nodding as she was gonna make herself farther into the cage before Naruto remember he had something he needed to ask, "Hey, I was wondering if I could ask you something.

The Kyuubi stopped her movements, looking back at the boy with a puzzled expression, "What is it?"

Naruto seemed a bit embarrassed, as he shuffled his hands together as he was looking for the right words to say, the time he was taking annoying the Kyuubi as she began to tap her foot impatiently against the shallow waters of her cell, "Speak now or else you'll have to wait for a while."

This cause Naruto to straighten up and blurt out, "What's your name!?"

The Kyuubi was stunned, face no longer annoyed but shocked, mouth hanging a bit open and eyes wide as she would never thought he would ask him that question, and she responded with the only word she could, "What?"

Naruto undid his straighten posture as he explained his reasoning, "It's just that, I've never really known your name, all this time I've never really called you by a name, and I was hoping that we're at a point for you to tell me, I do still want to be your friend after all."

The Kyuubi was shook, no one, not anyone she could remember, ever asked her for her name, none of her previous Jinchuriki asked that question, yet here was this boy, who surprised once again, still, she couldn't just give him that information. Her face losing its shocked expression she turned it into a glare as she stared the boy down with a questioning look, but even so, he didn't back away.

"Why do you need to know that? I'm the Kyuubi! Nine-Tails! The Demon Fox! You don't need a name to address me!" She shouted.

But Naruto still looked at her, his hopeful expression still there as he said, "Yeah, but those are just titles or what not, not an actual name, something you are given, surely you must have one. I mean, I've could use one of those titles, like I did when I first meet you, but, they don't seem right. I don't like it when people address me as the Son of the Fourth or what not, so I would assume you don't like it either, especially the demon one, that's just mean, and, I don't think it suits you, you've been way kinder than all the rumors people say!"

Once again the Kyuubi could only wear a shocked expression once again but this time with a bit of a blush on her face, when she looked back, the boy never did address her with any of those titles when they spoke except for when they first met. And she could tell he wasn't lying about it not feeling right. She had to look away for a moment, a single tear shedding out of view from him as she dried it up, this boy was surprising her, time and time again.

Fixing her face and drying her tear, the Kyuubi began to chuckle, catching Naruto off guard when she than started to laugh hysterically, arms wrapped around her waist as her body moved around, eyes closed and mouth open as she continued to laugh, and Naruto had to admit, he like seeing her like that, it was nice to see. Stopping her laughing the Kyuubi fixed her posture as she looked at him once again, a small smile on her face that Naruto was grateful to see, "I've gotta admit kid, you sure surprise me, time and time again." She said before adding, "Call me Ku."

"Ku?" Naruto questioned.

"Yeah, it's not my real name, but if you want to address me with something than just call me that." Ku stated, ready to answer what she knew he would ask next.

"But, well, I still want to know your real name." Naruto asked, a bit disappointed she hadn't told him, but still glad she gave him something.

Making an expression Naruto never thought he would see on her, the Kyuubi smiled widely, as she placed a hand on her wide hip, finger against one of her cheeks as she leaned her head against it while still retaining eye contact with him with a happy stare. And Naruto had to admit, she looked, well, really cute, despite her amazing beauty as she said, "Well, let me cut you a deal. Pass the Chunin Exams without my power, and I'll tell you my name."

Naruto grinned ear to ear from those words, giving the expression of a small happy child that Ku had to drop her cute facade and laugh once more, she couldn't remember the last time in her life she acted like this, and it was a relief as she heard Naruto say, "Just you wait, Ku! I promise I'm gonna pass the Chunin Exams with my own strength! I'll keep up my part of the deal, just you wait, I swear I'll do it!" He proclaimed before adding, "Cause that's my Ninja Way! I'll never go back on my word!"

Ku chuckle at his words, _'His Ninja way, huh?'_ She thought with a calm expression, eyes narrowed at him in admiration before saying, "I hope you do, Naruto, good luck."

And with the snap of a finger, Naruto was gone, leaving Ku alone by herself, a smile on her face from his words, she really did believe him when he said he promised, and she couldn't really remember the last person she believed someone like she did to him.

* * *

The next day flew by for the two Genin, finally and effectively nailing down their teamwork, afterward Kushina and Hinata treated them to some food at a nice restaurant, which Naruto gobbled up so fast that Hanabi complained that there wouldn't be any for her. Causing the two to bicker at each other while Hinata and Kushina laughed at their antics from the next table over. The next day the two rested, making sure their bodies and minds would be ready for the exam.

Which brings us to today, Naruto and Hanabi were currently inside the building where the first part of the Exam would take place and were currently placed in a large waiting room with a couple of dozen other teams. As the two stayed near together near the back wall they heard a familiar voice call out to both of them.

"Naruto! Hanabi! It's good to see you two again!"

Looking at the source the two saw their Senior by a year, Konohamaru with his teammates in the back as he gave the two of them a bright smile.

"Hey Konohamaru!" Naruto greeted back as he gave a handshake to his friend. Naruko had a sort of Teacher-Student relationship with the Grandson of the 3rd Hokage, helping him train every now and then. And luckily Naruto developed a solid relationship with him as well, the two treating each other as somewhat brothers.

"Hey Konohamaru." Hanabi quietly greeted him as well. The Hyuuga and Sarutobi have had a weird relationship, from what Naruto had figured out both of their respective clans had tried to, well, arrange a marriage between them, luckily it never manifested. But that time definitely made things weird between the two of them, and even though Konohamaru tries not to let it bother him, Naruto could tell he was always a bit nervous around the Hyuuga as well.

"So I see you two are participating in the Exams as well. Hopefully you two can make it far." Konohamaru said.

"Make it far? No, Hanabi and I are gonna win this." Naruto declared with determination as he clenched his fist in front of Konohamaru.

"Well then get ready for a battle cause this time my time will make it out on top." Konohamaru replied as he matched Naruto's determination with his own, the two staring at each other as rivals for the upcoming exams.

But before the two could continue their conversation they heard a commotion start behind them, looking back at the source of it the 5 Genin saw to two Sand Village girls apparently being harassed by what appeared to be two Cloud Ninja, one of the Sand Girls seemingly trying to shield the other one by standing in front of her.

"She said she was sorry OK!" The Girl said, Naruto taking her appearance, she had straight chin-length brown hair, dark eyes, and fair skin while wearing two arm guards, a dark pink shirt with cuts over the shoulders, a white shirt underneath the other, and a black forehead protector around her neck. The Girl she was protecting was also fair-skinned but with long, dark hair and large, brown eyes framed by noticeable eyelashes wearing a grey midriff vest over a short plain shirt, revealing her bare stomach. She already wore her arm-guards and the skirt. Additionally, she wore black stockings and a Sunagakure forehead protector.

"Doesn't change her cocky attitude! If she thinks she's just gonna become a Chunin like that and wants to say it out loud without a care in the world than she has to learn that ain't gonna fly! And make her have a lot of enemies who want to prove her wrong!" The Cloud Ninja said, Naruto taking note of her and her teammates appearance. The Girl talking was dark skinned with long red spiky hair with the top covered by a white forehead protector and amber eyes. She was wearing a long, short-sleeved dress with a frilly edge, two simple yellow earrings, fishnet stockings, thigh-high boots with white soles.

"Karui, come on, this isn't worth our time. If the girl wants to be optimistic than let her, it won't affect her actual skills in the end." The Guy behind the girl who Naruto identified as Karui said, seemingly trying to calm down his teammate, Naruto noticing how both of them carried swords on their backs, but what kind Naruto couldn't tell.

"Shut up, Omoi! It bugs me how this girl will think it's so easy to pass when you and I know what it can be like!" Karui screamed at her teammate, who seemed more annoyed and embarrassed at her outburst rather than scarred, most likely having already experienced her like this.

"Matsuri?" The frighten Sand Village girl asked her teammate who was shielding her.

"Don't worry Yukata, I won't let them hurt you." Matsuri replied back to her teammate while she tried to put on a brave face, but Naruto could tell she was scared as well, and the comment seemed to piss off the Cloud girl even more.

"Oh, so you think you can stop me? Well let's see you try!" Karui yelled as she appeared ready to fight as she got into a fighting stance. Naruto, seeing enough, rushed over with such speed that it caught his Leaf comrades off guard as he slid and put himself between the Sand Girls and this Cloud Ninja.

"Thats enough."Naruto declared as he moved into a stance to protect the girls.

Karui though, seemed more pissed off than surprised at his appearance as she directed her anger from the Sand girl to him, "Who do you think you are!?" She angrily questioned.

"I"m Naruto Uzumaki, and while I don't exactly know your beef with the girls behind me, what I do know is that you just want to seem to escalate it into some pointless fight, so back off!" Naruto shouted as Konohamaru and Hanabi appeared on either side of him, ready to help out in case things went south.

Karui seemed even more pissed at his words as she got into an aggressive stance as well, her teammate and all other Genin around them backing off.

"So you think you can stop me? Well let's see you try!" Karui declared as she reach for her sword, Naruto and his friends getting ready to defend, but just as she pulled out a fourth of her blade, a voice called out which seemed to put fear in her eyes.

"Karui! What do you think you're doing?"

Looking at the source of the voice Naruto found a fair-skinned girl with a curvaceous figure with blue eyes and straight, shoulder-length blonde hair cut in an asymmetrical bob style while appearing to be a foot taller than him. Wearing a very low-cut outfit which displays her sizeable cleavage, with mesh-armour underneath, a short skirt and red hand guards, high boots, and what appears to be a modified cloud flak jacket that covered her stomach only, a short sword which Naruto recognized as a Tanto strapped on her lower back.

While Naruto along with a couple of the other guys were caught a bit off guard by her figure, Karui though seemed mortified while her male teammate had a snarky grin on his face, "Sa-Sa-Samui!" She stammered out.

But the Girl Naruto now knew as Samui just gave her a disappointing look, "What did I tell you about starting fights?"

Karui went out of her fighting stance and held her head down in shame, "Not to provoke them."

Turning her attention from Karui to her other teammate, Samui called out to him, "And what about you Omoi? You should have stopped her."

Omoi face turned into one that Naruto read as, 'Oh Shit', as he awkwardly starting mutter things that Naruto couldn't make out in an attempt to answer Samui, who sighed at him as well before turning her attention at Naruto and the others as she walked up to them.

"Forgive me for not stopping my teammates, I apologize for any misgivings they caused." She said while bowing down to them, catching Naruto and his friends off guard.

"Oh, no problem, as long as nobody got hurt in the end." Naruto replied as he and his friends lowered their stance.

Bringing her stance back up Naruto noticed that her eyes seemed to land on Hanabi for a bit before they focused on all of them, "Thank you, now if you'll excuse me, I need to go discipline my teammates for their actions." Samui said before walking away, grabbing both of her teammates with force as she dragged them to the other side of the room regardless of their protests.

As they walked away Konohamaru released a sigh of relief, "Man, that was close."

Naruto silently agreed with him, the last thing he wanted to do was have any pointless fights before the exams began, but now he most likely made an enemy of that girl as well. Turning around he faced the two Sand Ninja he protected, "You two OK?" He asked, noticing how the one in back still seemed a bit scared.

"Yeah, thank you so much for helping us, I'm sorry we got you roped up in it though." The girl called Matsuri stated with a thankful look.

"No problem, the Sand, and Leaf are allies so we gotta look out for each other. And besides, I could tell you two weren't trying to pick a fight." Naruto told them before adding, "I"m Naruto Uzumaki by the way, and these two are Konohamaru and Hanabi."

"Well I'm Matsuri, and the girl behind me is Yukata." Matsuri replied.

But before they could continue their conversation the TV screens dotting the inside of the room turned on, and Naruto recognized Shikamaru appearing on them, trying to put on an indifferent face but Naruto could tell he seemed annoyed from having to do this.

"Hello there, you have all decided to take the Chunin Exams and this room is the first part of the Exam, simply put the only way to pass this part of the Exam is to leave the room and identify a specific target in there that may change should the target themselves leave. This will test you information gathering skills as there will be clues dotting around, the time limit to leave will be one hour. And with that good luck, let the Chunin Exams begin." Shikamaru explained before the screen shut off. Leaving all the participates with one question on their minds,

_"Where are the clues!"._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you all think of Hanabi being Naruto's teammate for the exam? Thought it would be unique and make a nice dynamic, plus I'm currently thinking of making her a candidate for the harem, though admittedly if I do, she'll join after the main girls I've planed for to. Also what do you think of the side character's I've introduced so far? Konohamaru and his team seemed like a given, Matsuri and Yukata were nice to tie it to the sand village, and what about the Cloud Ninja? Lets just say they and another group I'm gonna introduce next chapter are really gonna affect the story in a few chapters, and the world of this fanfic. By the way, been seeing some of you guys mention ways to change up Naruto's abilities. I'll be honest, I plan on making Naruto mostly stay the way he turns out in canon with the same few techniques, with little stuff and changes here and there to give him some spice, makes it easier for me to write. But a good number of you seem to want me to give Naruto some bloodline technique, well I'm currently thinking of something and plan to give my own little twist to it soon, nothing too overpowered, like the rinnegan or what not that would make him unstoppable, (I do want there to be some progression), but when you read it, you'll know. Next chapter will release in two weeks and cover the first and second part of the exam, so until than, later!


	9. Looking for a Race

Immediately most of the teams had already started running around the room, looking for something to give them a lead on who the person they needed to identify was. Getting back to back with Hanabi, the two of them scanned either side of the of room.

"Hanabi, got anything?" Naruto asked his teammate.

The Hyuuga was currently using her Byakugan to survey the area, looking for anything that was out of place, but with all the commotion, she couldn't pick out anything, "No, all these people moving around are disturbing my vision, I can't tell what's out of place."

"Damn, lets split up and look for any clues," Naruto suggested as the two nodded to each other in agreement before separating to other sides of the room.

As Naruto explored the other side of the room he bumped into Matsuri.

"Oh, sorry about that Matsuri." He apologized to the Sand Ninja.

"Oh, no problem Naruto." Matsuri replied before eyeing him for a second and asking, "So, you got any leads for this part of the exam?" That part of the room has already been picked apart and there was nothing." She told him while pointing to the area she was talking about. But when Naruto took a longer look at it, he realized that the windows had a large view outside.

"What about the outside?" Naruto asked her, the Sand girl looking a bit confused at him.

"Outside?" She questioned.

"He never said that the clues were specifically in the room." Naruto told her as Matsuri's eyes widen in realization, the two of them looking at each other before nodding in understanding as they each made their way to the window, looking into the courtyard outside.

"See anything?" The Blonde asked.

"No, nothing seems out of place enough to be noticeable." The Sand Ninja replied.

As the two scanned the area outside for any clues Naruto noticed how on the side of the courtyard there were some symbols carved into the wall, specifically the symbols of each of the five great villages. As he looked closer Naruto noticed something hanging over the symbols, though Naruto couldn't exactly tell what it was.

"Matsuri?" Naruto whispered as to not alert the other Genin around them, though luckily it seemed most had abandoned that area entirely, believing it to have been useless.

"Yeah?" She replied back, making sure to keep her voice down as well.

"See that thing hanging over the symbols over there?" The Blonde asked as the Sand Ninja focused her eyes in the direction, landing on the object Naruto was talking about.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I think it's a headband but I'm not sure, do you have any ways to get it?"

Matsuri's eyes seemed to light up as she quickly pulled at what appeared to be a handle with a long string attached to a metal dart on the end, "I can hook it in with this."

"Ok then, once I open the window you try and get it to us as fast as you can, no doubt it'll get a lot of attention so someone might try and snatch it from us." Naruto explained.

"Well then it sounds like you could use a distraction."

Turning around Naruto saw Moegi standing there, a smirk on her face as she held quickly showed him a small smoke ball between her fingers as she said, "They never said we couldn't use our tools like this, and besides, often you'll have to distract your opponent to gain the advantage."

Naruto gave her smirk as he turn to Matsuri, who gave him a nod to let him know she was ready, turning back to Moegi he slightly raised his hands and extend three fingers, slowly counting down with them until they hit zero, at which point Moegi let the smoke bomb drop a few feet away, catching the attention of the Genin as smoke filled the room. Just as their attention was focused on the smoke quickly filling the area Naruto opened the window, Matsuri shooting her dart with impressive precision, hitting the object dead on, hooking it to the object Matsuri quickly reeled it back, bringing it into the room and catching it as Naruto closed the window.

With the smoke acting as cover Matsuri held up the headband for her, Naruto, and Moegi to see, taking note that it was black and had the Sand Village logo on it, but before the three could inspect it any closer a shuriken flew at Matsuri's hand, hitting the headband and knocking it out of her hand. Flying into the smoke the three of them heard a flurry of footsteps run away from them. Quickly taking action Naruto ran in after them the smoke cleared up just enough for him to see who it was but to still block the views of those on the outside of the smoke. Seeing a girl with purple hair in an onion-like bun style wearing a light purple neck-collared kimono jacket with a brown-orange sash around her waist and lavender pants, noticing he was pursuing her the girl turned around, Naruto noticing her light green eyes with black pupils and her headband having the logo of the Hidden Rain Village.

And with impressive speed she pulled out a scroll, opening it up before he could reach her and summoning up a multitude of other smoke bombs, catching Naruto off balance as he back away in instinct. As the smoke finally cleared Naruto saw many Genin looking confused as to what happened, but Naruto couldn't see the girl anywhere.

_'_ _Must've slipped into the crowd and hid.'_ Naruto thought as he rejoined Matsuri and Moegi.

A couple of feet away though said girl stood next to a wall, her teammates joining her as she said, "I got it."

* * *

_'What was that?'_ Hanabi questioned as she and the rest of the Genin on the other side of the room saw the large smoke that came out of nowhere.

_'Damn, I can't waste time on it, gotta find a clue.'_ The Hyuuga thought as she activated her Byakugan, trying to see if she could find anything, but then she noticed something, some of the Genin, their chakra was different, it wasn't flowing normally like it would, it was as if some jutsu was in place. Returning her eyes to normal she eyed a specific Genin that intrigued her, not noticing someone walk up next to her.

"You noticed it too?" Konohamaru asked as he also eyed the Genin.

"Yeah, there's something about him, its as if he's using some jutsu, but from what I can tell there's no chakra leaving his body." Hanabi explained.

"It's probably cause he's using a transformation jutsu." Konohamaru suggested, surprising the Hyuuga on how easily he reached that conclusion.

"How do you know?"

"Trust me, I've used that technique enough time to see through it by now," Konohamaru stated.

"Oh yeah, your sexy Jutsu or whatever." Hanabi murmured, remember how disgusted she felt when she learned such a technique existed.

"Hey, look, Naruko tricked me into learning it! Besides, its proved useful time to time." Konohamaru retorted, and Hanabi had half a mind to say something indecent back, but the Sarutobi stopped her by continuing what he was gonna say.

"Look, that guys probably a Chunin or Jonin, disguised as a Genin to partake the exam, usually they're here to help students pass by being someone they can get information from, happened last exam as well." Konohamaru explained.

"So that means he's either who we have to identify, or has knowledge on who the person we have to identify is?"

"Exactly" The Sarutobi confirmed, but then something caught his eyes, "Look, two teams are already leaving."

Looking at the door, Hanabi indeed saw two teams walking towards the door, one was comprised of what she believed were Hidden Rain Ninja, the other team comprised of Genin from the Leaf. Activation her Byakugan Hanabi watched the Rain Ninja closely as one of them spoke to the Chunin at the door, watching her lip movement before the Chunin let her through. Then after that, the other team came up to the door, one of them saying something to the Chunin as well, but what he said caught Hanabi off guard as his team was let through as well.

"They both got it right, huh." Konohamaru sighed.

"No, no they didn't." Hanabi replied, catching the Sarutobi off guard.

"What do you mean, they were both let through so they must've each answered correctly."

"No, the conditions to pass are to leave the room and correctly identify a specific target, but when I saw both of their mouths moves, it was clear they each had completely different answers, they never said they would stop us if we got the target wrong." Hanabi explained as his eyes widen.

"I think we should meet up with our teams and see what information we all got, we have a better chance of passing if we all work together." Konohamaru suggested as the two went back to their teams.

* * *

"Damn, that was the girl." Naruto huffed as he, Moegi, and Matsuri saw the first two teams leave.

"She and her team must've figured out the target with the headband, but I don't know about the other team though." Moegi commented.

"Well, let's see what we know." Matsuri suggested as she added, "The headband we grabbed was black and had the Hidden Village Logo on it."

"So that must mean the target is from the Sand Village, you got any leads Matsuri, it is your village." Naruto asked, but the said girl just shook her head.

"No, there are a few other teams from the Sand this year, and black is the most used headband color." She told them, but as she was finished Hanabi and Konohamaru walked up to them.

"I think we've got some good information." Konohamaru told before adding, "First off, it doesn't matter who we say the target is, those Chunin will let us through the door all the same, but that doesn't mean we'll pass, so we gotta make sure we got the right target."

Hanabi than step in to explain the other part, "And some of the Genin here are actually higher rank Ninja in disguise, most likely to give us some sort of clue as to who the target is."

"Well then we also figured out which village the target is from, its the Sand." Naruto added before asking, "So who are the ones in disguise."

"That one over there." Hanabi told him as she pointed out one of the Genin on the other side of the room, but then she noticed that, "Wait, is he looking over here?"

"That one over there as well." Konohamaru added as he motioned to a Genin on the other side of the room who appeared to be giving the group some side eye.

Noticing this as well Naruto had a thought, "Hanabi, figure out where all the disguised Ninja are staring at."

"Got it." Hanabi stated as she quickly activated her Byakugan, finding as many disguised Ninja as she could, making sure to take note of their eyes, and sure enough, many of them were in the direction of their group, "They're looking at this area."

"They must be looking at the target, or near the target at least." Naruto explained.

"Which means the target is in this area." Moegi commented.

Learning this the group of Genin immediately started to look in the area for any other Sand Genin in the area, finding 5 other's not including Matsuri.

"One of them must be the target." Hanabi stated.

"But how do we find out which one?" Konohamaru questioned. But then, a clue came to all of them.

"Matsuri, you find anything yet?" Yukata asked her teammate, with Udon walking next to her.

"Yukata, oh yeah we found a couple of clues." Matsuri told her teammate before asking, "What about you?"

The black-hair sand ninja hung her head down in defeat, "Nothing, even with Udon being nice enough to help me we couldn't find a single clue, sorry Matsuri."

But something that she said caught Hanabi's attention, "Say that again." She told Yukata.

"Uh, we couldn't find any clues?"

"No, her name." The Hyuuga clarified as she motioned to Sand girl to say it.

"Uh, Matsuri." Yukata said, a bit confused.

Turning to Konohamaru, Hanabi looked at him and asked, "Say her name as well."

"Matsuri." He replied, confused as well.

"Naruto, say it too." Hanabi told her teammate.

"Matsuri." He replied back, not knowing why she asked them of this.

"Uhh, why did you have them say my name?" Matsuri asked confused

Turning to the Sand Girl, Hanabi placed her hand on her shoulder and asked, "Matsuri, I need you to walk to the other wall then back, OK?"

"Uh, sure." Matsuri agreed, not knowing the reason to why she had to do it but went along as she started walking away. And as she did Hanabi activated her Byakugan and focused them on the disguised Ninja. Realizing her plan Naruto and Konohamaru gave each other a nod as they also looked at some of the disguised Ninja as well. When Matsuri returned all three of them confirmed one thing, the disguised Ninja were looking at _her._

"Matsuri, you're the target." Hanabi flatly told the girl in a whisper when she returned, shocking the rest of the group except for Naruto and Konohamaru.

"M-me?" She asked shocked, "How are you sure?"

Bringing in the rest of the group in Hanabi explained in a hushed whisper her reason for her conclusion, "First of all, all the disguised Ninja were looking at you and you're a Sand Ninja."

"But still, that doesn't mean she's the one." Moegi asked, a bit concerned that her reasoning wasn't enough.

"Maybe, but one of the teams that have already left, while I wasn't able to hear what name they said, I was able to see their lip movements, and by having all of you say Matsuri, I determined that the lip movements between all of you and them were remarkably similar." The Hyuuga explained, impressing all of the group with her reasoning.

"So we have to say Matsuri is our target when we walk through the door, huh.?" Udon commented.

"Yeah, it's our best shot." Hanabi replied.

And with that, the three teams finished their plan, they would each leave separately with 5-minute intervals to avoid suspicion, first Naruto and Hanabi, than Matsuri and Yukata, and finally Konohamaru and his group. All three of them ending up in the same room where they had to wait for the rest of the hour to end, seeing around a few dozen other teams also come in.

* * *

Naruto and Hanabi were currently sitting as they waited for the hour to be over. All three of their teams ended up in the same room, where they saw around a few dozen other teams also come in. As Naruto looked around he saw that the Rain Ninja who took the headband from him was here along with her team, along with the team from the Hidden Cloud, who Naruto felt like kept glancing at him and Hanabi, but couldn't understand why.

As the final second past, the doors to the room were shut and the rest of the Genin look at the front of the room, seeing Shikamaru come out and stand in front of them, clearly dragging his feet as he scratched the back of his head, yawning as he reached the middle and faced them.

"Well I suppose congratulations are in order for all of you passing the first part of the exam, but we didn't expect so many of you to pass as well so we're in a bit of weird spot on how to trim that number down, what a drag." He explained as the Genin listened to every word he said, wondering how they were going to trim that number down. But with a simple hand wave, Shikamaru signaled the other Ninja in the room to hand out some scrolls to all the teams. Once it was done Shikamaru spoke again.

"As you all see each team has been handed a scroll, you must deliver them to the Hidden Sand Village, should you arrive without them you will not pass, you can also take the scrolls from other teams if you wish but it won't matter how many scrolls you have when you reach there as long as you have one. The time limit to get there will be 3 days, however only the first 15 teams to reach it will pass. Does everyone understand?" The Nara clansman asked, seeing no one had any questions he said, "Good, your time begins now."

And with that, all the Genin got up from their seats and ran out the doorway, Shikamaru hearing the screams of pain from some of the unfortunate Genin that fell and were stepped on in a hurry. As the final team shuffled out of the room the Nara clansmen sighed.

_'Even if they all showed they had the proper mental skills to pass the first exam Temari still gonna give me hell when she learns how many passed my part, well, no use in thinking about it now, should go tell all the failures that they didn't pass, man what a drag.'_ Shikamaru thought as he left the room, looking out the window to see the mess many Genin were leaving in their haste to get to their destination before shrugging and walking off.

* * *

On the main streets of Konoha squads of Genin were jumping from roof to roof, all in a hurry to reach the Sand Village, lucky the streets were mostly devoid of any Citizens as they had all been evacuated in preparation. Somewhere in the middle of the group Naruto and Hanabi were pacing themselves, making sure not to overdo themselves too much at the start.

"We keep this pace, we won't be able to overtake any of the teams in front of us, even if some run out of stamina they'll be too far ahead for us to pass them in time," Hanabi complained as the two were halfway across the village.

"I may have an idea for us to get a massive lead on everyone, though in all honesty, it's insanely risky." Naruto told her.

"Isn't it always with you?" Hanabi snarked back before adding, "If it can give us the lead we need then do it."

"Alright." Naruto replied before making his hands into a seal and shouting, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!".

Hanabi, along with all the other Genin who could see were in shock by how many he summoned, possibly at least 50, but before they could even have a chance to count the number of them all the clones proceeded to move at breakneck speeds past all the other contestants towards the gate.

"What are they doing?" Hanabi asked as she saw the clones appeared to separate, one half staying on the ground while the other went to the top of the gate.

"Just watch and follow my lead." Naruto replied as the clones proceeded to make a rope of each other with dozens of them on the top of the gate while a few kept the ones on the bottom held securely, seemingly stretching them.

"Wait, Naruto, don't tell me-" Hanabi was about to ask as some of the other teams in front of them passed the rope of clones, Naruto and Hanabi about to reach them.

"Just grab my hand and hold on." The Blonde ordered as he held onto the first clone of the rope on the ground while Hanabi held on to him as well before the clones around them started counting down, "3, 2, 1, LAUNCH!"

And with that they let go, the clones on top pulling the rope of Naruto along with the clones on the rope themselves and Naruto and Hanabi were launched over the Village Gate into the air, flying over all the other teams before they even reached their high point.

"Pretty good huh?" Naruto asked Hanabi as they flew, the girl smiling back at him.

"I'll admit it, not half bad." Hanabi replied as they held each other's hand, the wind rushing past their face.

* * *

"Aww, I didn't get to say goodbye." Naruko mused as she and her friends watched Naruto and Hanabi launch into the sky while the rest of the Genin picked up the pace.

"You can still say bye to Konohamaru, I think that's his team over there." Sakura stated as she pointed to the Grandson of the 3rd Hokage who seemed to be picking up the pace with his teammates as they were approaching the gate.

"Oh yeah." Naruko realized as she leaned over the railing and waved at him while screaming, "Good luck Konohamaru! And say hi to my Brother for me." She told him her semi-student as he waved back at her before passing through the gate.

"Naruko, how come Naruto seems to be so much better with Shadow clones than you?" Ino asked her friend as all the Naruto clones began to disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Hey, I can make just as many clones as him!" Naruko huffed back with her arms crossed.

"Yeah but he uses them so much more creatively than you." Kiba added with a smirk which the twin-tailed blonde took notice of.

"And I seem to recall mine still being more than enough to whoop your ass during our match." Naruko smirked.

"You sprayed perfume in my face!" Kiba yelled back.

"Doesn't change the ass kicking you got after."

"Ok ok that's enough you two, we don't need some spar on the top of the Village Gates." Hinata calmed them down as she got in between them.

"Still though, there's a problem for your siblings." Neji cut in as he and Shino kept their eyes on the Uzumaki and Hyuuga as they started to descend.

"What problem?" Naruko asked.

"How are they gonna land?" Shino replied as a look of terror fell on Naruko and Hinata face as they each looked at their siblings, praying they would have a soft landing as they started to pick up speed in their fall.

* * *

As the two started to descend Hanabi noticed Naruto becoming a bit paler, "You have a plan to get us down, right?"

The Blonde proceed to give her a nervous smile, "Uh, well, no, this was the risky part I was talking about."

"Oh for god's sake," Hanabi mused as she thought something up while the ground became increasingly closer, "Hold on." She told him as she wrapped her arm around his waist while the other she brought back in an open palm.

"This is gonna be rough." She warned as the ground became closer while activating her Byakugan, waiting until the ground was only a few feet away before shouting, "Vacuum Palm!"

Hanabi was able to hit at just the right angle to slow down their descent enough so when they did hit the ground they rolled uncontrollably for a couple of meters before stopping, limbs sore from the landing but nothing broken at least. Looking back at the Village the two saw just how much distance they had between them and the rest of the Genin. Facing each other they nodded before running off into the forest, making sure to keep a good pace to keep ahead but not tire themselves out as they made their way to the sand Village. Not knowing the relieved sighs their sisters' gave when they saw them land.

* * *

The night sky held over Naruto and Hanabi as they sat against a tree, currently taking a break after their hours of travel. From Hanabi's calculations they should at least be a good couple of miles in front of the other teams so they could take the chance to rest, and even if the other's teams passed them they would probably wear themselves out too much and the two could regain the lead. But in the end, this rest was more for Hanabi than it was for Naruto, in all honesty, he could probably go on for another couple of hours before needing to rest, even without the Kyuubi, Uzumaki genes were outrageously good for someone stamina and endurance. Alas, Hanabi, unfortunately didn't have that same gift as him, so he suggested they take a couple of hours to rest before heading back out.

As Naruto noticed Hanabi breathing become more deep and steady he realized she had already gone to sleep for the night, _'She needs the rest.'_ He thought before wondering, _'Still, if we can continue at this pace I can probably carry her for the last stretch to save some time. But still even with our lead, I not completely sure if we'll keep ahead, we still don't know a lot about any of the other teams, but that stunt we pulled off at the gate definitely put a target on our head, other teams know we're a force to be reckoned with.'_

Pulling out the scroll all the teams were given Naruto clutched it in his hand, _'There are probably some teams who might think it's better to try and take us out now and prevent us from finishing, if I were to guess most of the front-runners will probably ignore us, wanting to secure their spots instead of risking losing it to battle us, but if one of the middle teams slows us down enough who know how many others will jump in against us as well.'_ He thought as he placed the scroll away, laying against the tree as he decided to rest a bit as well.

* * *

"Ajisai, can't you just summoning your giant bird to fly us to the Sand Village." Fuyo asked her Rain Village comrade as they rested near a tree.

Though the comrade in question became angered by the question, "Of course not, I'm not allowed to summon any of those creatures unless Lady Angel allows it, and the one I am allowed is for our mission here." Ajisai explained.

"Still though, who would've thought your Fuinjutsu skills would be so great that Lady Angel would allow you to summon Lord Pain's animals at all." Suiren commented.

All three of them remember the day, they had just become Genin, and during training, something went wrong, extremists who still were loyal to the previous ruler of the Hidden Rain, Hanzo, ambushed them a bit from the city. The three of them fought for their lives, not knowing what would happen to them if they lost. Things got bad and eventually, Ajisai was the only one who could fight while protecting her teammates behind her, staring down the enemies in front of her. But then, as she was back into a corner, Ajisai tried a summoning jutsu, the only thing that came to mind in that moment.

What she summoned still mesmerized her teammates to this day, a Giant Drill-Beaked Bird. It was unlike anything any of them had ever seen, its beak was prominent and jagged with a yellowish coloring, with three distinct legs and its two wings. But that wasn't the most strange thing about it, it had two giant black rods protruding from its body, one in its neck and another throughout its back, along with the purple eyes with the multiple black rings in it.

When it was summoned the bird seemed confused, not knowing why it was there as its eyes dotted around the battlefield. Looking back at its summoner, its eyes locked on Ajisai, and her teammates, all of them frozen in fear, but the creature did nothing as it noticed their headbands. But as it looked at them, it was attacked by the extremist, who saw an opportunity to take down the beast, but their attacks only seemed to irritate it as the bird's focus went from the Genin to the attackers. In a moment it was over, the attackers dead on the floor as their blood spilled out.

Ajisai and her teammates could barely register it as the bird turned and looked at them, not moving as it appeared to be waiting for something. They couldn't remember how long they stood there until a voice called out to them, Lady Angel herself, her white paper like wings on her back as her black cloak spotted with red clouds covering her cloak, her head adorned with blue hair looking down at them as she landed in front of the bird before facing Ajisai.

* * *

_"Do you know what you did?" Konan or 'Lady Angel' asked the Genin as she walked up to one of Nagato's creatures, when he told her what had happened she thought he might have ordered her to dispose of the Genin, but he asked for something different._

_Ajisai was barely able to answer as she quickly took a knee and said as best as she could, "I don't know, Lady Angel, me and my team were attacked by some extremist, and when I was the only one left to fight, I tried to summon something, and that bird, is what came out, I'm not sure how I did it."_

_Looking at her Konan motioned for the girl to stand up as she said, "You, young lady, have summoned a creature of God."_

* * *

After that day, Lady Angel periodically visited Ajisai and took her out for some training, seeing how far powerful her skills were. It was one of the reasons they were entrusted with their mission as she looked at her teammates and asked, "So, did either of you find any Jinchuriki?"

* * *

The 2nd day went by without much of an issue for most of the teams, but on the third day, well a couple of teams were facing some trouble.

Konohamaru could barely dodge the slice that came for him, the tree behind though was cut clean through by Karui's strike. The Red-hair cloud Ninja separated him from his group while she left her's, the two of them alone in the forest as they stared each other down.

"What do you want with me?" Konohamaru asked as he jumped up on a nearby branch.

"Nothing much, it's just that you pissed me off along with that yellow-hair brat from the exam, so I thought I might let off some steam and take out some anger on you before I whoop his ass." She replied before moving her Katana so fast that Konohamaru could barely jump off the branch before it was cut from the tree, taking out some shurikens and throwing them at his enemy who blocked them with her sword as he hid behind a tree before coming back out.

"Well, you can try and lift as much steam as you can from fighting me but you're just wasting both our time and stamina, at this rate both of our teams will fail cause we aren't with them." The Sarutobi informed her as he grabed one more shuriken.

"Than I guess I better make this quick." She told him before running at him, seeing him throw a shuriken at her, "I can block a dozen of these, what do you think one will do?" She asked as she moved her katana to hit the projectile out of her way, not noticing the smirk on Konohamaru's face.

"Than let me make it more challenging!" He shouted before bringing his hands up in a seal and calling out, "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Out of thin air multiple Shurikens appeared in front of Karui, the girl was barely able to react in time, changing her swing from a specific point she swung it over her front, knocking out the projectiles that would've hit her vital organs but couldn't knock out the ones that her sides, grunting in pain as they dug into her skin.

"How'd you like that!" Konohamaru bragged, but it was short lived as a blade was hooked around his neck, it's sharp side pressing against his neck to get the point across, looking behind him he saw Karui's teammate, Omoi standing behind him, giving him a cold look. But before he could say anything Konohamaru exploded in a puff of smoke.

"Would you look at that, just a clone." Omoi muttered as he walked towards his teammate who was busy pulling a shuriken from her body before they all disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I could've handled it on my own." She huffed angrily.

"Sure you could, now come on, Samui ordered me to come get you, lucky your little battle didn't cost us our lead, but we should still move." Omoi told her as they went towards the sand Village, the green forest being replaced by multiple sand dunes.

* * *

Out in the dunes of the desert Naruto and Hanabi were running on the sand, the heat from the sun's rays bearing down on them as they sweated but continued on before taking a minute to rest.

As they stood there, huffing and panting Naruto pulled out their shared water pouch taking a swing of it before tossing it to Hanabi, "That's the last of it so enjoy." He told her as she drank it down, making sure to get every drop.

"Do you have any idea how much farther the Village is from here?" She asked.

"Honestly no, we should be heading in the right direction, but I don't know if we're on the best path." Naruto replied before the two heard someone call out to them. Looking in the direction of the source they saw Matsuri and Yukata running towards them, which concerned the two of them on how much ground they covered despite their early lead.

Stopping in front of them Naruto and Hanabi noticed how unfazed the two seemed by the environment, in fact they didn't even look all that worn out from the trip here.

"Damn you both look worn out." Yukata commented at them as she stood in front of them.

"How do you two look completely fine?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, trust us, living in the Sand Village does wonders for your resistance to heat and stamina, our bodies have accumulated to the weather and are able to use as little energy and sweat as possible to keep us running for longer periods of time, plus we know a couple of shortcuts, how we were able to catch up to you." Matsuri explained before adding, "Want us to show you some, I mean we do owe you for helping us in the first exam."

"That would be nice." Hanabi answer as the she and Naruto took a couple of more seconds to rest before following the two Sand Ninja as they made their way to the village.

* * *

When all was said and done, the first 15 teams to make it to the Sand Village had arrived, Naruto, Hanabi, Matsuri, and Yukata made it first, after that a couple of Sand Village teams made it before Konohamaru's team, the Rain Ninja girls, and the three from the Cloud Village arriving as well, with the rest of the slots being filled in by some other teams.

When it was all said and done the 15 teams were escorted inside the village to some Inn where they were put in a large room with a stage on the far side, where they were told to stand in front of while waiting for the next proctor to arrive. Eventually, a woman with teal eyes and sandy blonde hair, wearing a short-sleeved, black kimono that reached down to her legs, with slits along the side, and a red sash tied around her waist, a Sand Village forehead protector wrapped around her forehead.

Before he could figure out where he had seen the person before she spoke, "Hello, my name is Temari and I will be your proctor for the next part of the exam. I must say congratulations to all of you that made it in time to pass this round of the exam. You must all be exhausted from your trip here so for the night and morning tomorrow you may rest to regain your strength. At noon tomorrow, you will all need to meet at the village entrance so that you may be taken to the next part of your exam where I will explain the rules more. Until then, get some rest, you are all dismissed."

And like that, the group of Genin went to their assigned team rooms to rest for the rest of the day.

* * *

Naruto walked into the room with some food he had gotten from a local store, he had already washed up and Hanabi was currently in their shared bath taking her turn as he heard the flowing water. Closing the door he called out to her through the other side.

"Hanabi, I'm back and I got some food, I also saw a couple of stores selling some supplies we should probably get in the morning." He told her as he set the food down on a nearby table. The room they were in was simple enough, two beds with a drawer and lamp in between against the wall, with a table and some chairs in the corner, the bathroom also while being smaller than they both were used to, had everything they needed.

"Alright, I'll be out in a few." She called out as the water stopped.

Naruto was currently laying out the food he got, making sure to get extra for both of them considering the amount of energy they used on their way here. As he dug into his food Hanabi came out, dress for the night as she wore some baggy shorts and top similar to her usual attire, except more loose. Sitting down across from him she took in her own food and proceeded to eat. The both of them sitting in silence as they replenished their energy, something that seemed ironic to them considering how much they would bicker at each other as children.

"So, how have the exams been for you so far?" Naruto asked as he tried to break the silence, catching the Hyuuga off guard with the question.

"What do you mean?" She questioned, not truly understanding the question.

"Well, you said that the exams would be a way for you to truly feel like a Ninja, so, has it actually done that so far?" The Blonde clarified.

"Oh, well, so far it's been OK. But I still feel like somethings missing, something that would let me prove my real worth." Hanabi told him.

"Well, we still do have some more parts to this exam so all we gotta do is wait and I'm sure you'll find something." Naruto assured her. But then something changed on Hanabi's face, she seemed a bit conflicted after he said that, like she wanted to tell him something but couldn't.

"Hey, something wrong?" He asked worriedly as he noticed this change.

"There's, something I should probably tell you, since you have so much trust in me I feel like I should come clean." She told him.

"Clean?"

"About why I would always bicker with you when we were kids, I was jealous." She stated.

"Jealous?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Jealous of you and Hinata." She told him, but before he could ask why she explained more, "A couple of years ago, when me and Hinata were younger, we got along as great as most siblings can, it was nice, but than Hyuuga family politics came in. Hinata was suppose to be the next head of the Hyuuga, but the elders didn't trust her, thought she wasn't fity to lead the clan. But they thought I was, despite being 5 years her junior, eventually they started to groom both of us, and it began the drive us apart. Until it all came to a climax of us having to fight each other to see who would be the next clan heiress."

Naruto listened very closely to her, seeing how hard it was for her to tell him this. He had heard a bit of the drama the Hyuuga clan had, but with the way Hinata and Neji acted around each other, he thought it was all in the past. Still, he let Hanabi carry on.

"She should've won that fight. But she hesitated, and at the moment, I took the opening and won, even though everyone saw Hinata could have landed a finishing blow on me, the elders thought that because she didn't, it would be a weakness, so they made me the heiress. Since that day, I was different, I focused on my training like some sort of madman, and I pushed Hinata away, even when she tried to talk to me I usually said I had to go and train. Eventually, I started seeing less and less of her around the complex, and than one day, she brought you to meet me. Seeing the way she seemed to hold your hand, to coddle you like an older sibling too, it made me realize just how much I missed my older sister, but I was too prideful to admit it. So I took my anger out on you, heck one of the reasons that _arranged marriage_ or whatever between me and Konohamaru never work out wasn't because I didn't like him, but him being a friend of you and your sister, who Hinata had seemed to find a new family with, it messed with me, despite how hard he tried to at least let us be friends, I pushed him away because of my jealousy and pride." Hanabi explained

Taking that in was surprising for Naruto, but he had to ask a question, "So what happened? You don't appear to be that jealous of me anymore, so how did you and Hinata patch things up?"

"After the Chunin Exams that our sister's both participated in, I saw a change in Hinata, and not just that, Neji, who I thought despised our main branch, started training with her and seemed happy about it, It didn't make sense to me. But over time, I was able to see how Hinata, despite what everyone seemed to tell her, how she needed to act, she never followed them, she did what she wanted to do, she was, happy." Hanabi admired before adding, "She made her own path, even her state in the main family didn't stop her, so she became who she wanted to, she chose her own path, and it inspired me, not to be the heiress cause I had to, but to do it cause I wanted to, to be at the top, where I could change the rules that forced the Hyuuga apart. And so, I asked her to train me one day, and our relationship has been improving ever since."

"That's nice, I'm glad for the two of you." Naruto complimented.

"Thanks, but one more thing I want to say."

"What is it?"

The Hyuuga girl took a deep breath before saying what she needed to, "My sister cares for you, I don't know exactly but, I feel like when things got bad at the Hyuuga, you and your sister helped to give her hope, to carry on." She told him before giving him a serious look, "So, please, take care of my Sister, cause in honesty, I still don't think I'm good enough to do it by myself."

Grabbing her hand Hanabi was surprised when Naruto look her in the eyes and responded, "Hinata's special to both of us, we'll take care of her together, so let's make her proud by advancing to the next round."

Seeing the determination in his eyes Hanabi held his hand as well and responded, "Yeah."

And with that the two felt ready to start their next exam as they proceeded to go to sleep, feeling even more ready to pass.


	10. Tower Defense

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayy early upload! Surprised? Well I thought that since its Naruto's birthday today, Oct 10th, I decided why not? Also a bit excited for this chapter cause after this, you guys will probably get an idea for what I have planned next, plus I'm finally revealing Naruto's bloodline technique.

"Got everything?"

"Yep, all set for now, time to head out." Naruto confirmed as he and Hanabi were ready for the day, well rested and supplies set.

They had a good night's sleep, and now were ready for the next exam today, checking the clock they saw it was about a half-hour before the exam started, and with a nod, they exited their rooms and made their way out of the building, on their way out to the desert. As they were walking there Naruto couldn't help but feel a strange presence, before realizing that it was right behind.

Turning around quickly Naruto was greeted by a hand fastly moving past his face and resting on his shoulder, the hand belonging to his Mother as she looked down at him with a bright smile.

"Kaasan!" Naruto exclaimed as Hanabi also turned around, surprised to see Kushina here and wondering if her Sister was here as well.

"Hey you two, heard how well you both did on the exams so far so I came here ahead of everyone to congratulate you two!" Kushina explained before bringing them both into an unexpected hug as Naruto and Hanabi were lifted off the ground. The two a little flushed when they felt her large breast press into their chest, Naruto from being a hormonal boy, and Hanabi from being a bit jealous of their size.

Putting them both down Kushina saw the red looks on their faces and decided to tease the two of them, "Aww, you two are adorable together, like a young couple, two people of high upbringings using the skills they've learned by their own merits to face the challenges the world throws at them together." Kushina said, hands clasped together along with her eyes closed as she overdid the speech to get them both flustered.

And she did as Naruto and Hanabi each looked at each other for a second before their faces went even more red, looking away they each shouted.

'"Kaasan!"

"Kushina-san!"

Kushina could barely contain the smirk on her face as she saw the two of them look like two embarrassed teens. It was always one of her favorite past-times back when Naruko was still a genin, and now that she saw how well it seemed to work on Naruto, she would continue to do so in the future.

Smiling at their reaction, Kushina than looked at Hanabi with a gentle smile, "Hanabi dear, do you mind if you go on ahead? I need to talk to Naruto for a bit." She asked the young Hyuuga.

"Oh, sure." Hanabi stated as she turned around, "See you at the exam." She said to Naruto before continuing on her way.

Seeing her walk away Naruto then looked back at his Mother, noticing how she seemed to look around them for a bit before grabbing Naruto. The blonde team was moved so fast that the next thing he noticed was that he was in a dark alleyway, no one else near as it was just him and his Mother, his back against the wall.

"Kaasan?"

Kushina through, then proceeded to surprise Naruto as she pressed herself against him, before bringing her hand to his covered crotch, rubbing it with her smooth hand as Naruto let out a surprised gasp of pleasure before wrapping his arms around Kushina and holding her sides to keep himself standing from the quick, unexpectedly high pleasure.

As she was rubbing her hand against his crotch Kushina couldn't help but smirk as she felt it rise to its length, the bulge becoming visible even in the dark as she felt it for the first time with her hand, getting a better grasp of its size than before.

_'One minute I teasing him about being in a relationship with his teammate like a Mother and the next I'm feeling him up in an alleyway, god am I'm terrible, but fuck is this exciting.'_ Kushina thought before bringing her mouth to his ear and whispering, "Bet you like this, huh? Well, if you pass the next part of this exam, well, let me give you a quick demonstration."

Snaking her hand quickly Kushina pulled out the front of his waistband and underwear before moving her hand inside, grabbing his length fully with her silky smooth palm, and Naruto could only gasp as she felt her fingers wrap around him, her thumb making small circles on his flesh as his mouth was wide open, not knowing what to say but definitely had a vocal response as he moaned. Kushina though could only smirk as she felt his shaft, the heat admitting from it warming her hand nicely as she felt the vein on it pulse against her fingers.

_'My, I think he's bigger than his Father was at this age, heck he might be as big as him now should I give him a year or two to grow.'_ Kushina thought before deciding to bring this round to an end.

"You better do your best to pass Naruto, cause I promise if you do, I'll do my best to finally let you have that release you've been begging to have from me." The Kunoichi said before disappearing in a cloud of smoke, leaving a dazed Naruto.

Naruto felt excitement and anticipation rising for tonight, but then he realized one thing, his Mother had left him with a massive boner that probably couldn't be contained if he wanted to make it to the exam in time.

_'God damn it!_ _'_ Naruto mused as he began to hop on top of the building, hoping no one would see the budge from his pants.

* * *

Making his way to the Village Gates, Naruto was grateful that his erection had subsided for now, doing his best to keep the thoughts of his Mother's potential reward out of his mind for now. Seeing the multitude of teams Naruto found Hanabi off to the side, Konohamaru's team along with Masuri's as well. Walking towards them the group saw him approach and gave a simple nod to greet as he stood next to the Hyuuga.

Standing from her spot in front of the group Temari began to speak, "As it seems you are all here and it's already noon, I will now explain to you the next part of the exam." Temari stated before turning her body to the side, allowing the Genin to view the passage of the Village, a long narrow path that was guarded on the side by two large walls which served as bunkers to repeal any outside attacks.

"On the other side of this path and on the open fields of the desert, we've designed a field, with 3 important points. The exam will be King of the Hill, each point is designed to be held by one team, you will have 30 minutes to hold down your point. In the end, only three teams can pass, anything is allowed, understood?" She asked the Genin, who all nodded with determined looks on their faces. "All right then, begin!"

And with that, the Genin dispersed all running down the same hall. But as they ran down Naruto noticed the cloud ninja jump ahead in front of everyone with impressive speed and distance before stopping and turning around, all three of them taking out their blades, Chakra coating each of them as Samui nodded to her two teammates. The three of them slashing their blades and shooting the chakra in different directions, Karui and Omoi hitting the walls on their sides as parts of them broke apart, falling to the Genin below, while Samui set her blade into the ground, causing a shockwave all the Genin felt under their feet as the ground beneath them became unstable, cracks forming underneath them as they realized they would have to move now or be trapped.

Thinking quick Hanabi had activated her Byakugan, looking for a path in the falling debris she found one, "Follow me!" She shouted to her teammate and friends, all of them taking her path as they bounced up on the walls and went through the rock, hearing them shouted on the ground below while they scaled the Village walls. Looking back down Naruto saw that a pretty sizable amount of teams were able to block the falling debris, some escaping the destabilized floor beneath them, others, not so lucky as he saw some teammates try to help those that were stuck, though it looked like no one had been seriously hurt by what he saw.

As they continued on their way up the walls they all reached the top, where the group saw the large field and what areas they would have to take. The field itself was made mostly from sand, with the three points being a large hill, a small tower, and a small one-story house, with the sand field littered with what appeared to be trees, rocks, water, etc.

Looking at Hanabi, along with Konohamaru and Matsuri team, Naruto knew time was of the essence as he said, "We'll each pick a spot, OK? We'll have a truce not to attack each other's points, other than that, first come, first serve!"

And with that, he and Hanabi jumped down the large defense in front of the village, the other two teams right behind them as they split off and headed for different points on the field. Looking around the two saw only a few other teams had made it past the start, while the rest were still getting out of the debris field. With the ones who caused it, the Cloud Ninja, already well into the field, and it looked like they had taken the point on the that was the house, Karui, and Omoi standing guard outside while their blonde teammate was inside.

Looking at his teammate Naruto asked, "Tower?"

"Tower."

And with that, the two made their way to the tall structure, The two nodding to each other as Naruto began to scale them on the outside of the structure while Hanabi went inside. The Hyuuga girl noticing the structure appeared larger on the inside, though it was mostly just a long open shaft from the bottom to the top floor, a rotating staircase along the side walls with a few windows dotting the path, seeing with her Byakugan that Naruto had already reached the top as she made her way up as well.

Upon reaching the top floor Hanabi saw that its sides were guarded by a few stone walls that went up to their hips, other than that it offered a pretty good view of the of the field as the two saw that Matsuri and her teammate were currently engaged in a battle with a team from their own village by the hill, while Konohamaru's team was currently stalking up in the trees keeping an eye on the house and the Cloud Ninja. Plus the other teams were finally making their way out of the debris field and splitting off to claim a point, and from what the two could tell, they had a few minutes before they would need to start defending.

Putting his hand up in a sign Naruto shouted, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu." Creating almost a dozen copies of himself as he told Hanabi, "I'll leave two up here to help guard the top while you focus on surveillance, The rest will protect the ground floor and stairs below."

As the various Naruto clones made their way down, Hanabi stopped the original, "Wait, Naruto. Wouldn't it be better to let the other teams take this hideout for now? In the end, it's the team who controls the area when the time runs out who moves on. If we try to constantly defend it for the whole game then we'll just get too tired to defend it at the end!"

Naruto stopped in place, eyes covered from her view as he looked down for a moment, clearly taking her question seriously as he tried to find an answer. Turning to her, Hanabi was surprised by the determined look on his face as he said, "Maybe, maybe that's the best strategy. But remember what we talked about before? We're gonna show the world who we are, we're gonna take every challenge thrown at us, and come out on top. We're not gonna back down, but stand our ground, and when the teams who try to take this spot against us lose, they'll remember our faces, not the people who we came from."

Hanabi felt stunned by the speech as Naruto made his way down, leaving her and two of his clones on the roof to defend it. Snapping out of it the Hyuuga quickly cleared her mind, had a point, if they wanted others to know who they were, they had to leave an impression as she scanned the area once again, noticing the tower beginning to be surrounded by multiple teams who appeared to form a truce in order to attack this spot.

Than all at once the multiple teams charged at the tower, surprising Hanabi and the two clones by their forwardness, but they had no time to be stunned as some of Naruto's clones went out the bottom entrance to stop some of the invaders, while a few other Genin tried to scale the tower on the sides, making their way up as fast as they could.

Bringing out a kunai the Hyuuga prepared herself for a battle but stopped her stance when the two clones put their hands up to stop her.  
"You keep your strength, we'll handle these guys, for now, you're our last defense should we get too tired." One of the clones said before nodding to the other clone as well. The two jumping off the top to meet the Genin climbing up halfway, stopping them in their tracks as they engaged them.

But still, Hanabi felt herself mutter what he had said, "Last defense, huh, he thinks I'm that important." She said before getting ready for the impending wave. But off in the distance, one team approached, the one from the Hidden Rain as they held back and let the other teams charge in first.

"You sure they went in there?" Ajisai, their leader asked her teammates.

"Yep, no doubt, the Son of the Fourth and the Hyuuga Heiress are in there." Fuyo, her teammate stated.

"And you positive he's a Jinchuriki?" Ajisai questioned.

"Mostly, we'll still need to implant the black rod Lady Angel gave us to make sure." Her other teammate, Suiren stated.

Ajisai than took out out a Black Rod from her pouch, remember how Lady Angel gave it to them should they come against a Jinchuriki, along with one other thing. Biting her thumb Ajisai performed a quick set of seals before slamming her hand into the ground and saying, "Summoning Jutsu!"

Out of the seal came a small, snaked-tailed green chameleon, eyes purple with multiple black rings and a small black rod through the skull of its head. Its eyes darted around rapidly as it looked at its surroundings before landing on the one who summoned it. Holding her hand out Ajisai saw the creature crawl on her arm and into the sleeve of her shirt, changing its color to become unnoticeable to the trio.

"Why did you need to summon that thing again?" Fuyo asked her teammate as she and Suiren were a bit out of loop of the whole plan.

Looking at her Ajisai said, "Lady Angel told me that it's suppose to act as some connection for her and Lord Pain to the Black Rod, after we make a connection between who we believe is the Jinchuruki and it, the creature will act as a proxy for Lord Pain to see into the Black Rod, confirming with his own power whether or not the person is a Jinchuriki, but we gotta make sure the Rod is implanted long enough for the creature to make a connection and keep it safe, so when we're in there, I need you two to watch my back while I implant the rod into this, Naruto."

And with that explained the trio nodded to each other and made their way to the tower, ready to enact the mission given to them.

* * *

Elsewhere Konohamaru and his team were currently moving in on the house, ready to intercept the other cloud ninja. It seemed that many of the other Genin teams weren't gonna try and risk going after them as most of them banded together to go against Naruto and Hanabi, he felt bad for the two and wanted to help but knew they could make it, well, he hoped they could. But still, these cloud Ninja were definitely some of the strongest in the exam, the way they acted as a team, their strikes and power, they were leagues ahead of most of the Genin, which was why he wanted to fight them.

"This is insane," Moegi muttered from behind her teammate, not liking how things were looking for them, in all honesty, she and Udon weren't gonna be of much help in a fight like this, and despite how talented Konohamaru was, this was probably gonna be a battle they were gonna lose.

"What are we gonna do against this guys! How would we win against them and still have enough strength to fight off any remaining teams?" Udon questioned, his snot running faster than usual in fear and anxiety.

But Konohamaru only turned to his teammates, "I trust you two to know when to help me, cause I know we're gonna pass this time, OK!"

His worlds went into his teammates as they remember just how much he trusted them before he jumped up from the tree and charged at the two cloud genin guard the outside.

"Oh my god." Moegi and Udon simply stated in tandem as they saw their friend rush in, the two cloud ninja also a bit surprised from him as well before pulling out their blades and getting ready to strike.

"He's gonna die." Moegi stated as they saw Konohamaru still charging at the enemy, but then right when the two were about to send a wave of chakra through their blades at him with a strike, the Sarutobi jumped back, before releasing a puff of black smoke from his mouth. The black ash-like substance blocking Karui and Omoi view as they had to cover their mouth to avoid the stuff getting into their lungs.

_'Wait, is this?!'_ Omoi thought as realization dawned on him before telling his teammate, "GET DOWN!"

Dropping to the floor Karui saw Omoi slash his blade in a circle around them as he blew most of it away from their vicinity, giving them a sphere of protection before they heard a clank-like sound from the outside, the ash around them igniting up in an explosion of flames, even with the amount of ash Omoi had blown away, this was bad.

As the explosion surrounded the two of them they could only brace for impacted, until they felt a slash away from their sides as the force of the explosion didn't hit them. Opening their eyes Karui and Omoi saw Samui standing there, her tanto in her hand while the ash and the explosion were forced back away from them.

"Get ready!" She told her teammates as they heard a barrage of shurikens make their way past the remaining ash and towards them. Getting into a stance the three of them all quickly swung their katana's at the projectiles, stopping them from hitting them as they fell to the floor and puffed away except for the originals.

"You two go and stop him, the longer we wait for the more of a threat he'll become." Samui told her teammates, who nodded to each other and went through the smoke, appearing on the other side they rushed at the blue-wearing scarf Genin as he narrow dodged their attacks, clearly a bit surprised as that they made it past his smoking-ash and shuriken-clone combo.

In the air Konohamaru created a clone to help fight with him as the two fought together, making sure not to stay in one place for long as they and the Cloud duo didn't give the other a chance to breath or launch a powerful attack. But seeing an opening Omoi threw a kunai at the boy's scarf, pinning it to the ground as Karui charge in to take out the off-balance Genin, Omoi taking out the clone who tried to help the original with a quick slash.

But just as Karui was about to slash her blade at Konohamaru she had to block an incoming kunai, but that was just enough time for the thrower to run out and grab Konohamaru, bringing her away from her reach as Moegi shouted, "Now Udon!"

Jumping into the air above the cloud Ninja the boy said, "Sorry about this!" Before bringing his hand into a seal and sniffling his nose as he shouted, "Snot prison!"

Out from his nose, his massive snot reserves shot out, stunning the cloud duo both from its speed and from disgusted as it hit the ground between the two of them and expanded rapidly, that the two had their legs trapped from the now harden substance.

"Nice you two!" Konohamaru praised his teammates as they now stood away from the Cloud Ninja, ready to attack.

"Ugh, this is disgusting!" Karui complained as she tried to slash away the substance, cracking and denting it but not weakening it enough to break free.

"This has to be the weirdest and most disgusting jutsu I've ever seen." Omoi complained, trying to break free as well.

But then, the two felt a slash at their feet as the snot broke into many pieces, freeing the two as Samui walked in between them, " I thought I told you to take him out fast, guess I'll have to help you as well."

The two teams stared each other down before charging, neither looking to back down from the other.

* * *

Back at the tower, Naruto was currently fighting against some of the Genin that had slipped through the front door, a few others coming in through broken windows as he lost most of his clones in the defense as they tried to thin the numbers. But as he kicked one his opponent into the wall, knocking him out, he noticed that most of the Genin were fighting each other, their truce appearing to be done as they each tried to take the structure for their own team.

_'Well, at least they're not all going after me anymore.'_ Naruto thought before hearing a trio of screams from above, looking up he saw three Genin holding a kunai jumping off the stairs and at him in a multitude of directions, blocking off any part of escape that he could take quick enough without suffering damage, but as he got into a stance to take them down, they were all blown away by a powerful wind-like force as they were thrown into the wall.

Looking at the source of the attack Naruto saw Hanabi on the stairs as she made her way down, taking out any of the Genin who tried to attack her with swift strikes as she took them out of the game with a couple of chakra blocks before jumping down to Naruto, the two going back to back as they helped each other take out any of the teams who tried to get them.

"What happened upstairs?" Naruto asked as he threw an opponent through one of the windows.

"Got overrun, plus it looks like the team that's holding the top isn't gonna go down easy." Hanabi explained before telling Naruto to duck and throwing another Vacuum Palm at their would-be attackers.

"What'd they look like?" Naruto asked.

"They looked to be all girls, from the Hidden Rain." Hanabi stated, catching Naruto's attention as he asked, "Hidden Rain! Did one of them-"

But before he could finish his sentence, he was cut off, "Lookout!" Hanabi screamed as she and Naruto jumped away in opposite directions, narrowly dodging the Giant Panda that fell on where they were standing, the beast let out a roar so terrifying that it caused most of the other Genin teams to run from the tower, not wanting to take any chances with the beast. But the ones who stayed were quickly taken care of as Naruto and Hanabi saw three fast blurs move around the tower, taking out the remaining Genin. But as two of the blurs tried to come to her Hanabi stopped the two in their tracks, Fuyo and Suiren a bit surprised at her skills as the two began to double team the Hyuuga.

"Hanabi!" Naruto shouted as he tried to run to help his teammate before he was sent back, narrowly dodging the strike from the giant panda as it charged at him, its speed betraying its size as Naruto kept was put on the defensive from the beast as it forced him away from his teammate, who was currently making her way up the stairs in an effort to put some distance between her and her attackers.

Just as Naruto was forced back against a wall through the panda tried to strike him with a fast powerful jabbed. But Naruto was able to move out of the way fast enough as he rolled to the side, the Panda burying his fist into the wall as he struggled to get it out.

_'Now's my chance!'_ Naruto thought as he pulled out a Kunai, ready to deal a blow to the creatures head as he jumped up at him, but before he could reach it he felt the wind blown out of him as a foot dug its way into his stomach. Time stopping for a second Naruto saw who the attacker was, and recognized her as the girl who stole the headband during the first exam. But just after he made the connection, time resumed and he was sent flying across the room and into the wall, the hard sand-like structure cushioning itself around his body as he groaned out in pain.

_'God, those hits are almost as hard as Hinata's!'_ Naruto thought as he struggled to move from the wall, his body stuck from the impact as he saw his attacker take out what appeared to be a small black rod before charging at him.

"Naruto!" Hanabi screamed in fear for her friend, trying to jump towards him to help from the stairs before being pushed further up by the duo she was fighting. The two were in sync as they each complimented the other's moves, not allowing Hanabi time to find an opening as she was forced further up and up the tower, away from her teammate.

Seeing his attacker charge at him with impressive speed, rod in her hand as she aimed for his stomach, Naruto had to think fast. Realizing that his left leg was the freest out of his limbs, he waited for his attacked to get closer, until just before she would've stabbed him with the black rod before freeing his leg and kneeing the rod away from his stomach and into the wall, embedding it into the structure.

As Ajisai struggled to take out the rod, Naruto freed his arms, taking a jab at the girl she was forced to pull back to avoid the strike, leaving the rod in the wall as Naruto freed himself completely, now looking fully at his opponent as the two stared each other down.

"You know, don't think you have to stab me to take me out, especially with some danky old rod, at least use an actual weapon" Naruto called out to his opponent, hoping to stall a bit for time to get some energy back.

Ajisai though, scoffed at his question, "That rod is a weapon, but you wouldn't know that considering how you and your village get all the fancy ones, while my little one struggles to keep itself afloat from all the damage your's has caused it."

"What?" Naruto asked, not getting what she was implying before she pulled out a small scroll and said, "Enough talk, Unsealing Technique: Paper Snowstorm."

Out of her scroll came what appeared to be a white mass, that expanded rapidly towards him, getting bigger and bigger that Naruto had to jump up the walls to avoid it. Ajisai though, had already prepared for this as she had taken out another scroll, releasing its contents Naruto saw a storm of shuriken head his way as he ran along the wall, the storm of metal embedding itself right behind him.

But just as he outran the storm Ajisai appeared in front of him, Naruto barely dodging her jab before she hooked his face and threw him to the other side of the room. Naruto landing with a groan as he saw the girl take out the black rod from the wall as she seemed to store it in her back pouch before assuming a fighting stance once more and charging at him.

Quickly throwing down a smoke bomb, Ajisai had to stop as the white smoke surrounded her, blocking off most of her visual until she saw the smoke move around her. Naruto appeared right behind, ready to punch the back of her head but was surprised when she turned around as quickly as he appeared, catching his fist before it could land while throwing her own. Naruto barely able to catch her fist as well as the two were in a stalemate, either given the other an edge as they stared each other down.

"You said my village damaged yours, what did you mean!" Naruto questioned as the two continued with their struggle, truly wishing to know what happened.

"Tell me, where do you think the great Nations fought in the last Great Ninja war? Do you think they cared about the little Villages they used as their battlefield." Ajisai screamed at him, allowing Naruto to realize why she seemed to hold a grudge against the Great Nations. He felt sympathy for the girl, but that hesitation got him in trouble.

In a moment Naruto felt pulled into a bear hug, his arms trapped by two big black arms, looking back he saw the Panda he was fighting early was the one holding him. _'_ _Damn it, I totally forgot about him!'_ Naruto mentally screamed.

Seeing that he was trapped Ajisai took out the black rod once more, moving to stab the Blonde Genin with it. As she thrust it forward Naruto tried to kick it away with his feet, but just they were about to parry the rod to the side, Naruto saw a long tongue come out of the girls sleeve, grabbing his leg and throwing it to the side, leaving Ajisai with no obstructions as Naruto felt a sharp pain through his body, eyes wide in shock but not pain as his body felt numb.

The rod drove right through where his seal would be.

* * *

Konohamaru and his team were panting, clearly worn out, as the cloud team in front of them appear not nearly as tired as they were, but still weren't 100% either. Still, Konohamaru knew he and his team weren't gonna give up, if they were gonna fail this part, they were gonna go down swinging. But as he signaled his team to get ready and the three assumed a stance, the Blonde Cloud Ninja he knew as Samui raised her hand.

"Let's make a deal." She said, surprising not only Konohamaru's team but her own teammates as well.

Karui though, didn't even wait for her leader to speak as she immediately said, "Deal? All we need are a couple of more minutes and these guys are done for! Why give it up now!?"

Samui though just gave her a cold stare that the Red-hair Cloud Ninja immediately shrink away from. "Sorry," Karui said as she stood behind Samui, head hung down in shame as Omoi did his best to stifle his laugh, lest he want the same stare from Samui to as the blonde look back at the Leaf Genin, which he had to admit, with the fight they had, they gained his respect.

"What type of deal?" Konohamaru called out, still ready in case what she said was a trap.

"Something tells me you're aren't gonna give up unless the time runs out, or your dead, and you aren't gonna go for any of the other points either, lest you'd have already done so instead of still fighting us. So I propose we let you have the house, and we'll go take the hill over there, sound good?" Samui explained, puzzling the Leaf genin.

"Why?" Konohamaru simply asked, it didn't make sense to him why they would just give him the house.

"You and your team are good, you're strong." Samui stated, shocking Konohamaru's team a bit from the praise as she continued, "But we're stronger, if we wanted, we could beat, but in the process, we'd lose too much energy, leaving us at a disadvantage as we'd be too open for more attacks from the other teams who'd probably been hiding around here, waiting for one of us to declare a winner before they swoop in and take out the victor."

Taking a moment to ponder her reasoning and words, knowing the risks that could happen if they continued their fight, Konohamaru spoke, "I see, very well, we'll take your offer."

And with a nod the two team Leaders move away, Konohamaru's towards the house while Samui's move towards the hill.

* * *

"Huh!"

Naruto got up from the floor, a wet floor. Looking down he saw that there was some water around his feet, and after noticing that his back wasn't wet despite laying on the ground and looking at his surroundings, he concluded he was in the Kyuubi's, or Ku's lair, at least some part of it anyway.

"Been a while since I was in this part." Naruto said out loud to no one in particular, he had only walked the halls of Ku's lair once, the first time she brought him into her realm, every other time he landed right in front of her gate.

"Somethings wrong.", Naruto could feel it, Ku said she wouldn't contact him for the first half of the exam, so how did he get here? Did it have something to do with getting stabbed? Oh god was he dead?! These thoughts and many others ran through his mind as he wandered the halls, looking to see if he could make his way to Ku's cage to maybe get some answers.

Reaching an intersection Naruto thought he heard something, some sorta clang down one of the halls. Never hearing anything like it in here before Naruto immediately went down the hall, the clanks becoming louder and louder as he ran closer to the source, before turning at a corner and finding himself at one of the entrances to the main room of the landscape, and in the middle of it, he saw two figures fighting.

Immediately he recognized one of them as Ku, wearing her red kimono as she was jumping all over the other person, using her long claw-like nails to swipe at the person who blocked them with what looked like the rod that Naruto was stabbed with. The two moving at speeds Naruto unable to comprehend as Ku started to look like a blur, clearly trying her best to take the attacker down who Naruto couldn't make out, he was covered in darkness, as if it was what his body was made of as only the outline of his body could be seen. Until he turned near where Naruto was standing, where Naruto got a good look at his eyes.

Dark purple eyes, with multiple black rings forming from the center outwards, and his look made Naruto feel paralyzed, he couldn't move.

Seeing where her opponent was looking Ku was shocked to see Naruto standing there, but became immediately more concerned when she noticed her attacker became less interested in her, a was about to raise his hand towards her Jinchuriki.

"No!" She screamed as she kicked his hand down before landing in front of this black figure, before putting all of her force into her next punch, hitting him square in the gut and sending him flying across the room, but Ku felt like her opponent only took it as a minor inconvenience as the fox-spirit immediately dashed towards Naruto, picking him up and running down the halls of her chambers as fast as she could. Hoping to give her and Naruto some time before the figure came after them again.

After getting to what she thought was a safe distance, Ku put Naruto down, noticing he seemed to be in some sort of trance.

"Naruto?" She asked, nothing. She snapped her fingers in his face, nothing. She shook him a bit, still nothing.

"God damn it, Naruto, snap out of it!" She screamed in his face, finally snapping him out of his daze.

"K-Ku?" He asked before adding, "What's going on? Who was that guy? How are you out here in front of me and not in the cage? Am I dead?" He asked with concern, making Ku wince from how fast he was asking the questions before getting him to stop.

"Look, I'll be honest, I don't know what's really going on either, first off, no you are not dead, but after you got stabbed that figure appeared inside of here and dragged me and you here as well. How am I out of the cage? I'm not, this isn't the regular place you go inside of the seal, it's some sort of middle ground between him and the actual seal that person created to use to interact with us, but if he's able to catch me or you, he could very well affect the seal itself." Ku explained to her Jinchuriki, noticing how he seemed to be worn out as he took a knee to catch some breaths. She felt disappointed in herself, something seemed off about the rod that girl he was fighting pulled out, it wasn't until he was actually stabbed with it that where she knew where it came from.

"Now I need you to listen to me, ok?" Ku said as she took a knee as well, trying to reach his level as she placed a hand on his shoulder, she couldn't remember the last time she had contact like this with anyone, and despite the severity of the situation, it felt nice as she continued, "That man, he is powerful, but he can't access his full power here, and this is our home turf."

Naruto nodded in understanding, and she was glad he hadn't asked about the man's eyes, that was something she didn't want to delve into, for his own sake and her own as he asked, "So what do we do?"

"We need to hit him with just one big hit, that'll be enough to disturb the connection he has to us and send him out of here." Ku informed him.

"But how will we land that blow?" Naruto questioned, but before Ku could answer him, she felt herself picked up and flown away from him, looking back she saw that the black figure had already found them as he extended his arm out at her as she came even closer to him.

"Ku!" Naruto cried out in worry. Luckily though, Ku wasn't going down easy, as right before she flew into the figure's hand, she used her bright fluffy orange tail to swipe at it, making him lose control and allowing Ku to launch another attack, planting a foot into the ground she swung the other one at the figures head. But he blocked it with ease as the two continued their fight from before, the figure standing in the same spot, blocking the attacks Ku threw at him with ease as she bounced and flew around him, using as much of her speed as she could to find an opening.

Naruto felt useless, he didn't know what to do. It felt just as bad as when his Mother fought Orochimaru. He didn't know what to do, they were on a level he couldn't comprehend as their figures turned into blurs to his eyes. But then he saw it, for a moment time seemed to stop as Ku and their opponent slowed down, Ku was about to land a strike against the figure, but he had already pulled out a rod, and it was about to go through her stomach. Naruto could see the fear on Ku's face as if she knew she in trouble. And Naruto couldn't let that happened.

"No!" He screamed, and he felt something, around his stomach, similar to when he's used Ku's power, but, different, as he saw his jacket and shirt rise up, leaving his stomach bare as something came out, a dark golden, glowing-like chain came out as it stretched out fast, reaching to Ku and the Black figure as it made the figure pullback before landing its blow.

Ku's face was in shock from what she saw, seeing how the chains that once held her originate from Naruto she couldn't help the memories of being trapped from them as a brief glimpse of anger came into her eyes, but she quickly blinked it away as she ran towards Naruto, the chains still out present as they laid on the floor, Naruto on his knees as he was huffing and puffing.

Looking up at her, Ku saw just how worn out Naruto looked, _'Of course he would be, summoning this, and at his age, even for as someone durable as him this must be taking everything he's got.'_ She thought as she was about to kneel down next to him. But she heard a flurry of steps as she turned around and saw the figure making a dash for her and Naruto.

As she got into a stance to protect the two of them she heard Naruto shout, "Get away from us!"

And than his chains moved again, surprising both Ku and the figure as his chains move to the side at the figure, who barely could barely put his arm up in time as it seemed like he had some invisible force to push it away, but that didn't stop the chain from wrapping around him and the force, wrapping around him as tight as it could as only his head popping out as the chains wrapped around tighter and tighter, his invisible force slipping and losing its ground each moment.

"Ku." She heard Naruto say, looking back at him she saw him clunch over, hand on his chest as he was breathing even louder, "I don't know if I can contain him." He said.

Kneeling down next to him Naruto saw Ku wrap an arm around his back, helping his upper body up before taking her other hand with his own. Holding them together she pressed their sides together as she said, "Together, we can take him out together."

He felt her tighten the hold on his hand, and the look she gave him. He tightened his hold on her back and gave her a smile, which she returned with her own. The two looking forward once more at their opponent, who looked back at them with his unique eyes and a cold stare.

"AHHHHH!" Naruto and Ku cried together as the chain from Naruto's stomach glowed bright, its dar shade fading and becoming brighter and brighter as the change went down the chains, before reaching their opponent. The Chains wrapping around his force field even tighter as he was losing more ground to it.

"Just a bit more Naruto, we're almost there, we almost got him!" Ku shouted.

"We can do this! Together!" Naruto responded as Jinchuriki and Tailed Beast felt closer to each other, as if they were in sync as with one final scream, the figure's hands fell, and the chains wrapped so tightly around him he burst in a flash of light, along with the chains that held him.

Naruto and Ku were panting, both worn out from the exchange but still holding onto each other. Turning their faces, they looked at each other, smiles on their faces from their win. And Naruto surprised Ku by wrapping his other arm around her, bring the tailed-beast into a hug, something she hadn't had in ages.

She was shocked at first, her tail stuck up as she didn't know how to respond, but feeling Naruto's grip tightening around her as he laid his head on the top of her chest, inadvertibly pressing into her well endowed chest as well, still, her shock fell, and she returned the hug as well. The world they were in fading around them as they let the darkness overtake them, not caring as they still felt each other's grasp.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes and was met with a bright white ceiling, the previous events in his mind a bit fuzzy, but he couldn't help but feel happy about it. Until he realized, he wasn't taking part in the exam. Immediately sitting up Naruto was greeted with the view of a hospital room, and on one of the seats close to his bed, he saw his Mother, hands crossed as she was spoked by his sudden awakening.

"My goodness, Naruto, you had me worried." She said as the red-hair Mother brought her son into a hug, which he returned.

"Kaasan, what happened?" The Blonde asked as they broke the hug, his Mother looking at him a point concerned as she questioned, "What's the last thing you remember during the exam?"

Bringing a hand to his head the Blonde felt his head pulse in response as he tried to remember, making him groan a bit. But still, he answered the question, "I was fighting a Hidden Rain Ninja, she got the better of me, than I got stabbed.", He said before remember he had to ask one important thing as his eyes widen, "Wait, did me and Hanabi fail?!"

Kushina was about to open her mouth to respond, but another voice did it for her, "No, but we barely passed."

Mother and Son looked at the entrance, finding the Hyuuga heiress standing there with a hand on her hip and a concerned look at her teammate as she walked to the bed and said, "Nice to see you up, had us worried with how long you were out."

"Out? How long was I out for?" Naruto asked.

"2 and a half days." Kushina stated, making Naruto feel shocked by how long it had been as he looked at Hanabi and said, "How did we pass when I was out for that long?"

Hanabi though, sighed at his statement, "Luck." she simply stated before explaining the events of what happened while the Blonde Uzumaki was passed out.

* * *

_Hanabi found herself on the roof of the tower, completely separated from her teammate as the two Rain ninja continued their joint assault on her, their joint taijutsu being good enough to keep her on the defensive. Until they decided to try something else, the two of them backing up, the rain ninja gave each other nod before moving on opposite sides, with Hanabi in between them before removing the umbrella they both had on their back, before opening it and holding the top part out in front of them, each of them facing Hanabi before they began spinning the umbrella rapidly._

_Hanabi could see with her Byakugan the tiny needles that littered the top of the umbrella, that would no doubt be coming her way and any other way she could move, there was no running from them, only defending. Getting into a low stance Hanbai lowered and widened her stance, spreading her arms out on either side as she opened the palms._

_'I haven't perfected this yet, but it looks like I don't have a choice to use it.' The Hyuuga Heiress thought as she started to rotated her body rapidly, "Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation!" She shouted as a blue like half bubble protected her body about an arm's length away on her sides. And just in time to as the umbrellas began to rain their many needles in her direction on both sides. Luckily the ones that went her way bounced off her barrier. After a couple of seconds of the attack, Hanabi could tell the attack had dropped substantially, though this also caused her to lose her focus on maintaining the barrier, causing it to break apart and send her flying off the tower, narrowly missing the other needles as she began free-falling down the side._

_Despite the fact her body was aching from the recoil, Hanabi thought fast as she quickly took out a kunai attached to some wire string as she threw it as hard as she could at the stone, the kunai digging in as Hanabi grabbed ahold of the wire and swung across the side before finding a window to crash through. Bracing herself the girl let out a grunt of pain as she smashed through the window. And she saw a sight that made her blood freeze, Naruto, on his knees, his head facing the floor, unmoving with a rod straight through his stomach, while the other rain Ninja stood in front of him, the Panda she summoned now gone._

_Even with her body aching, Hanabi felt her body move faster than she ever had it gone before as the Rain ninja was barely able to guard against the force of her palm, and even though she blocked it, Ajisai coughed up some blood as she felt her insides being slammed inside her body. Forcing her to the other side of the room, Hanabi took a stance in front of Naruto, while the Rain Ninja all regroup as she faced the three of them. They could all feel the tension in the room as they got ready for the next move. But Hanabi was so focused on the Rain ninja, she didn't even notice the long tongue which proceeded to wrap itself against her arm._

_Looking at the source, Hanabi traced the pink organ back to its source, finding a green, snake-tailed chameleon with a black rod through its stomach, on top of Naruto's shoulders. But its eyes, its eyes, Hanabi felt frozen, and her mind a bit fuzzy. She could barely tell what happened next, a fight she thought, through her muddy mind. And when her mind cleared, the Rain trio where gone, along with the green chameleon too._

_Quickly remember about her teammate Hanabi ran to Naruto, seeing that whatever was used to stab him was gone, his wound already closed up. Kneeling down she checked his pulse, strong, but slow, as he was in a deep sleep. And with that Hanabi heard a loud horn that was played across the field, signaling that this part of the exam was over._

* * *

"After I jumped down to protect you from our opponents, my mind gets a bit fuzzy, can't remember the details except after, and luckily, we made it to the end and held the tower. So we passed." Hanabi explained to her teammate, she already told Kushina about it, to which the red-hair kunoichi seemed a bit concerned. But decided to investigate on her own later.

"So, who else passed?" Naruto asked, while the fight with the cloud ninja and from what he could remember from his mind gave him many questions, the exam was still a priority to him.

Well, why don't you see." Kushina stated, before pulling out a piece of paper, Naruto recognizing the structure as a bracket as he saw his and Hanabi name on it before Kushina continued, "This is a bracket for the next round, a one-on-one tournament with eight contestants, with the winner becoming a Chunin."

"I'll be fighting that red-haired cloud Ninja, Karui," Hanabi stated.

"While you'll be facing-" Kushina started as Naruto finished, "Konohamaru."

Hanabi let out a sigh, "You'll be the last match for the first round while I'll be the first match, we got less than a month to train before the final Exam begins."

Naruto looked up his Mother and teammate, before looking at his lap, or more specifically, his hand, bringing it up to his face, Naruto proceeded to turn it into a fist as he gave a look of determination, "Than I guess I have some time to train than, Konohamaru won't be easy to take down."

Hanabi and Kushina smiled, glad to see the fact that he was gonna face a friend wouldn't deter him. Making her way to the door Hanabi stated, "I'm gonna go, Hinata and Neji should've arrived in the Village by now, and I need to train, I'm still not good enough."

Opening the door, Hanabi and Naruto looked at each other, giving the other a nod, they probably weren't gonna see each other for a while and knew that when they would, they would be even more powerful than before. And with that, Hanabi left, leaving Mother and Son by themselves in the private hospital room.

"Naruto."

"Yes, Kassan."

"Something else happened, otherwise you wouldn't have been out for 3 days, what was it?" Kushina asked as she gave her son a hard look, straight look.

Naruto winced a bit from the look before replying, "I'm not sure, my minds a bit fuzzy."

But Kushina could tell Naruto wasn't being completely honest and with a stern look and voice she said, "Either tell me everything now, or you're not getting your reward." The red-hair sensei said as she moved her hands under her breasts and changed her look to one of annoyance and a stern stare.

The threat of no reward frightened Naruto as he immediately started telling Kushina everything he could remember, the Mother of the boy listening very carefully to his words.

* * *

Out in a far away country, small and surrounded by three great powers, an orange haired man wearing a black cloak coated with red clouds stood on a small balcony, the tall tower he was on view the rest of his Village as the never-ending rain poured over it. Behind him, a blue-haired woman stood, _"Lady Angel"_ she was called, but to the man, she was Konan.

"You called me here, what happened?" Konan asked her friend, or more accurately, the vessel that he was currently using.

Turning to look at her Konan saw the purple eyes he possed, that she had seen her friend have all throughout their childhood, and even now, she could still feel the power emanating from it as he spoke, "The genin we sent, they succeeded."

"They found a Jinchuriki!?"

"Yes, it seems our theory was correct, the Nine-tails was split in half, one residing in Naruko Uzumaki." He started, Konan nodding as they each knew the Daughter of the 4th Hokage held the Kyuubi, thanks to their sources and Intel before her friend continued, "And the other half, resides in her younger Brother, Naruto Uzumaki."

Konan nodded at the information, for a while now their sources had been a bit off, they didn't think it was possible for a tailed beast to be split in two, they knew Naruko Uzumaki had part of the beast, but their sources in Konoha also stated that a young boy, member of the Hokage's family also had a piece. They needed to be certain before making their next move.

Speaking up Konan said, "So, does this the plan in the sound is set?"

"Are the arrangements with the cloud all set?" The man asked.

"Yes, they still think we are on their side and are cooperating with the plan." Konan replied before adding, "To think, with our successful operations in just the last few months, and we thought we would be able to take three Jinchuriki with this move, but now, it's possible it might be 4."

Turning away the man looked up at the sky, "Yes, at the Chunin Exams, we will make our grand move, this world shall see the beginning of, _Pain_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pain is here bitches! God I can't believe this is actually happening, when I first set out to write this story is was originality just gonna be some smut with genin Naruto, simple. But man did I get ambitious, rewriting the Naruto story while also adding in my own elements, this has been fun, and considering I'm seeing this is kinda a reflection, I gotta say thanks to all you guys, for reading and commenting, feedback, favoriting and following, it means a lot. And i hope you guys will have just as much fun as reading this as I am writing it, till next chapter, later.


	11. No Time for Rest

"So let me get this straight, you were fighting one of the Rain Ninja, she stabbed you with some weird black rod, you found yourself not in the Kyuubi's layer, but something similar to it, and she and you teamed up to fight off some intruder?" Kushina asked her son, who was currently grunting in pleasure from her hand.

"Ye-yeah, Kaasan." The Blonde grunted, eyes still fixed on his hardened shaft as it was currently out in the open, his Mother's hand gliding over it with her smooth, soft touch as her fingers tighten just enough for him to feel enough pleasure yet not turn into putty in his hands.

But Kushina didn't really pay her movements any mind, instead just looking at her son while she worked his shaft. She thought it would be easier to get him to tell everything if she gave him his reward at the same time, kunoichi were taught a number of sex techniques should the need in a mission arise, luckily it usually wasn't, but that knowledge came in handy every now and than. And she was using that knowledge now on her son, making sure to slow down or painfully tighten her grip when he started to bit around a subject.

Though that didn't stop him from moaning every now and then when he did give her the truth, and with the seals she put up and private room they were in, they didn't have to worry about any intrusions, and with Naruto now finished giving her all the information she thought it was time to wrap this up.

"Well Naruto, considering how truthful you've been and how I did promise to reward you if you passed this part of the exam, I'll finish you off with more than just my hand." The red-head smirked, making Naruto widen his eyes as she gave him a sultry look. This was the first time in this session she had given him that look, and Naruto knew now he could fully enjoy his reward as he felt Kushina now speed up her movements as she turned her head to his shaft.

_'My, I know this thing felt big in my hand, but looking at it now, well let's just say Minato might get some competition in a few years.'_ The former Jinchuuriki thought as she noticed how Naruto was struggling to keep his eyes open as he watched her continue.

_'Oh, I'm gonna make you widen those eyes Naruto, widen at me from what I'm about to do.'_ Kushina stated before giving her son's dick one last look as she took a deep breath, before proceeding to open her mouth and take his full length into her mouth in one fell swoop, giving a satisfied smirk as she heard Naruto give a very loud moan from it.

But as she found her lips at the base, she also inadvertently came into contact with his pubic hair, which was in light terms, not something she wanted to taste, as she pulled her lips up before pushing them back down, her tongue dragging across the side of his shaft as she stopped just a bit above his base before repeating the processes again.

"God, Kassan." Naruto groaned as he felt her continue her blowjob, his eyes now shut tight from the pleasure his shaft was engulfed in her warm mouth, and this new sensation was too much for him, first a hand job, and now a blowjob from his bombshell of a mom, he could feel his will to hold on fastly crumbling.

And Kushina felt it soon as she felt him begin to twitch in her mouth, disappointing her a bit as she was hoping to continue the blowjob a bit longer, _'Though considering how long I kept him on edge with that handjob, I guess I should be surprised by how long he held out with this blowjob. Should probably finish him off with one final push, huh?'_

And with that she pushed herself as down as she could, bearing with the feeling of his pubic hair on her lips for a bit while the tip of his cock was in her throat. The Sensei using her throat muscles to squeeze that tip as she opened her eyes at her son, seeing him stare back at her in surprise, and Naruto could swear she was smirking around his cock before his eyes went to the back of his head, his shaft pulsing violently as he came, Kushina feeling his seed shoot down her throat.

_'My goodness he's shooting down a lot, guess I should be lucky that it tastes kinda nice.'_ Kushina thought as she gulped down her potential grandchildren before removing him from his mouth with a pop, wiping off any excess semen from her lips with the back of her hand before giving her son a friendly smile, the boy in question breathing heavily as he was clearly spent.

"Kaasan, _*pant*_ , that was, _*pant*_ , amazing." He breathed out, Kushina giggling from his words as she proceeded to stand up and say, "Thank you Naruto, it's nice to know I've still got it, it has been a while since me and your Father got to have some foreplay in our lives."

Though Kushina realized Naruto didn't even register her words as he was still recovering from the best orgasm he ever had. Deciding it was time to go Kushina quickly put his deflating shaft away as she turned around, about to make her way to the door before Naruto spoke.

"Ah Kaasan, can I ask you something?" He said, getting Kushina to stop as she turned around and faced him.

"Sure honey, as long as it's not another blowjob, while it was fun for me these are suppose to be rewards," She joked as she stood at his side, Naruto flinching at her words a bit before looking at his lap, getting the courage to speak his words as before saying, "Do you think I can move out?!"

Kushina was, well, pretty surprised at his words, "Move out?" She repeated, making sure she heard him right.

Naruto looked down, "Yeah, it's not like I don't like living in our house, it's just that, well, I kinda want a place to call my own, to have to myself. I wanna feel like I can live by myself, on my merits without just relying on you and dad." He explained.

Kushina had to say, she was definitely not expecting him to say this, Naruko hadn't even brought this subject up even though the girl was more than cable of living on her own if she choose. Placing her hand on his Kushina ruffled his hair lovingly as she said, "Well I guess my little boy is growing up faster than I thought." Giving him a peck on the cheek she added, "I'll talk to your father later and figure something out, for now you just get another day of rest cause you'll need to start training for the tournament tomorrow, OK?"

Nodding back at her Kushina smiled at him as she got up and made her way to the door, but as her hand landed on the knob she turned her head to him and said, "Oh, and by the way, I think its time you start to shave, specifically down there, cause I'll give you a little piece of advice, that hair doesn't mix well when a girl's giving you a blowjob."

And with that she left, leaving Naruto by himself as he laid back for the time being, even trying to contact Ku but all he got was silence, though for some reason Naruto felt like that was more because she was resting rather than her ignoring him. But after a while he felt himself start to slip into a sleep-like state, until a voice that sounded very recognizable to him said.

"Well long time no see, eh Naruto?"

His eyes flew open from those words as his head immediately whipped towards the source. The window next to his bed was open, and on the other side was a very familiar tall, spiky white-hair so long that it went down to his waist man, wearing his green short kimono and matching pants with a red coat covering it. His trademark grin plastered on his face.

"Uncle Jiraiya!" Naruto exclaimed, clearly happy to see the man after so long as he asked, "What are you doing here?"

Jiraiya responded with an equal amount of cheerfulness, "Well considering how I heard the Chunin Exams were going on and learning you were participating in it, I thought I'd come pay my favorite Godson a visit!" He explained, extending his arm as he ruffled the blonde's hair and added, "And look at you, it's only been a year since I last saw you and I can tell you've gotten stronger, though I guess that's to be expected, considering you have such a banging Sensei!" The man loudly jokes.

"I'm your only godson." Naruto joked as he added, "And yeah, Kaasan is amazing."

"Automatically making you my best." Jiraiya responded before he got closer and held his hand up to his mouth as he asked in a hushed whisper, "So, how crazy is she? Cause I remember back when she and Minato were Chunin she would get into all sorts of crazy missions, even as your Father's sensei I don't know how he survived all of it considering how she practically dragged him along, though in all honesty, I don't think he offered up much resistance considering how often he was entranced by her beauty, if you know what I mean?"

Naruto sighed at his words as he said, "Come on Uncle Jiraiya, you know she'd throw you across the other side of the Village if she heard you talking like that, especially in front of me."

But Jiraiya wasn't fazed by those words by a bit, "Kid, I've survived attacks from Tsunade, and as strong as your Mother is, nothing can beat the strength from your that Sannin!"

Naruto had to admit, Jiraiya wasn't wrong about that, though still, he personally wouldn't take the risk, "So, where have you been for the last year?" Naruto questioned, remember how Jiraiya said farewell to him and Naruko before he left for his mission, but he never told them what it was about.

And Jiraiya was apparently gonna keep it a secret as he responded, "Can't tell you kid, but I will tell you that its been one of the hardest missions I've had for a while, there were honestly some points were I thought I was gonna bite it, but hey, that territory comes with the job, and I think I completed it pretty well. In fact, I just came back from talking to your father about it."

"Dad's here!?" Naruto questioned.

"Yep." Jiraiya confirmed as he continued, "He and the Kazekage are having a meeting and going over all the information. But enough about that, I hear you've got a month before the tournament starts, right?"

Naruto nodded in confirmation as Jiraiya smirked, "Well that gives us plenty of time to train!"

Naruto was shocked by his statement, "Train! You and me!" He asked, needing to know he wasn't lying.

"Of course! I trained your sister before her first exam, so why not! I could use some teaching to help me calm my nerves after my mission." Jiraiya explained before turning around to leave.

"Now get some rest and get ready for tomorrow cause we're gonna make you Chunin Material!" The Sannin stated before jumping from the window, leaving Naruto alone as he couldn't help but be excited at this new training.

* * *

In the meeting room of the Kazekage tower, the 4th Hokage and the 5th Kazekage were currently sitting down, processing the information Jiraiya told them. Silenced filled the room until Kushina entered, a clear speed in her steps as she closed the door behind her as the two Kage turned to acknowledge her presence, Minato even getting up and meeting her halfway across the room as he greeted, "Hey Honey." Giving her a quick peck on the check that had Kushina blush and go wide-eyed a bit in both embarrassment and humor.

"Hey Honey." She greeted back with a warm smile through closed eyes, ' _I don't know how to feel about that considering what I just did with Naruto.'_ She thought before straighten out her appearance.

"Kushina, since your here I assume Naruto has woken up?" Gaara asked as he stood up as well to great his fellow redhead, his words surprising the blonde Hokage.

"Woken up?" He questioned before asking with concern, "Did something happen?"

Kushina's face took a serious turn as she looked at her Husband, "During the Chunin exams, he got injured and was out for a few days, and as we all know it takes some serious damage for a Jinchuriki to take that long to recover." Kushina told her beloved who listened intensity, clearly not liking the direction this was heading as Kushina continued, "So when he woke up today, I had him tell me everything that happened, and honestly, it doesn't sound good."

"Not good how?" Gaara asked, first the news Jiraiya gave, and now something bad enough for Kushina to come and visit them to inform.

Taking a deep breath Kushina readied herself, "Somehow, someone that Naruto didn't recognize entered his mindscape deep enough that they were able to reach the Kyuubi. Luckily Naruto and the Kyuubi worked together to dispel this person, but from how Naruto tells me, it wasn't easy." She explained, surprising both Gaara and Minato.

The Latter asking, "Does Naruto have any idea of how that person entered?"

Shaking her head Kushina responded, "No, through from what Naruto told me, I think it may have to do with the Rain ninja he faced." Turning to Gaara the long-hair redhead asked, "Are they still in the village?"

Gaara gave a look of disappointment as he answered, "No, they left the day after the exam many of the other failing teams, they must be back at the Hidden Rain by now."

"How shaken up is Naruto about?" Minato asked, wanting to make sure how his son was doing physically from the experience.

Kushina felt the need to look to the side, hands behind her back as she said, "Uhh, don't worry, I was able to get him to focus on some other, _stuff_."

While this gave Minato some relief, he proceeded to close his eyes as a frustrated look came on his face, "First the Akatsuki, now this."

"Akatsuki?" Kushina questioned, of course she knew of the mercenary group, made up of missing-nin from around the Nations, but she didn't know why Minato had mentioned the group, "What about them?" She asked.

Sighing Minato asked his wife, "Have you heard of the disappearances of the Jinchuriki's from the Hidden Stone over the last year?"

Kushina responded, "Well yeah but they're just rumors, they have some of the most experience Jinchuriki's right? And doesn't the one call Roshi usually disappear from time to time on some sort of journey?"

But Minato didn't share her same sense of unworriness, "I thought so too, but something seemed off, so I sent Jiraiya to investigate." He stated, causing Kushina to realized the mission that Minato sent him on, he never did tell her she thought before Minato continued, "And he just informed us that the Jinchuriki of the 5-tails is completely gone, no trace of him left, the amount of Stone Anbu dotting around the land were enough confirmation that something had happen. And as for the one called Roshi, Jiraiya couldn't confirm his status."

Kushina felt fear start to go through her body, the disappearance of a tailed beast was no laughing matter, as they were one of the most import factors in keeping the Great Nations stable. However, Minato still seemed to have some news to share his face turned even more somber.

"But they're not even the only Tailed Beast to go missing, the Three-Tails is also gone." Minato informed her.

"The, the Three-Tails?" Kushina asked, husband and wife both feeling just how much it pained them to speak that name with the loss that came from it.

Minato, despite hating to continue the subject on that Tailed Beast, continued, "I had Jiraiya go check on the lake I hid the beast in, and when he got there, he said it was a battlefield, the earth was scorched, the water gone, and craters dotting all over the place."

"No." Was all Kushina could breath out, body becoming paralyzed in fear from all this bad news.

Deciding to step in, Gaara speared his fellow Kage from speaking anymore, "Lord Jiraiya says he found many pieces of clay blown to bits across the area, and with a bit of digging around he came to the conclusion they belonged to a new Akatsuki member known as Deidara."

Speaking up Minato explained their situation, "Right now, we believe the Akatsuki are also responsible for the disappearance of the jinchuriki from the stone as well, but right now we don't know any solid motive they have for possible capture them. Our best guesses are that they were contracted to, or that its for some plan they have."

Kushina felt shock go through her body, to hear of someone attempting to steal a Jinchuriki, it was another thing to hear a Jinchuriki become captured, but even so, to hear that the ones responsible weren't even a great nation! But then a thought entered her mind, a terrifying one, "Wait! Does that mean those Rain Ninja are part of the Akatsuki as well!?"

Minato responded, "We can't know, as far as our intel on the Akatsuki goes, we don't know what their ties to the Hidden Rain are, it could be possible that the Hidden Rain has its own plot, they do have more than enough motive after all, though from what Jiraiya has told me of him, their leader Hanzo doesn't seem like the type to do this."

But that didn't stop Kushina from worrying about her son, "Still! We need to take some more precautions" She pleaded.

But Minato tried to calm her down as he said, "Don't worry Kushina, after Jiraiya gave us the info, I had him go find Naruto, he'll be watching over him until the tournament along with training him."

But that didn't seem to calm Kushina down, in fact, it seemed to make her even more worried, "Jiraiya? You're letting that pervert train him!?" She shouted as she walked up to her husband and grabbed his shoulders with her hand as a terrified look came on her face, causing Minato to wince up in fear from her while Gaara slowly walked back, thinking it best not to get in between the two.

"What's so bad about it, Kushina? Jiraiya was able to train Naruko just fine!" Minato pleaded as he tried to calm her down once more.

"Without my permission! Minato, that man writes smut novels as a hobby! Naruto is going through puberty! I already have to make sure he gets his hormones in check as a Ninja! What do you think Jiraiya will do!?" Kushina exclaimed, sure she may have been sexually enticing her son with rewards and what not, but he had to earn them and control himself to get them, in her mind Jiraiya might just take the boy on field trips to the hot springs for his research, like he sometimes did when Naruto was growing up, his training being a second thought.

"Look, Kushina, just trust me on this, yes Jiraiya may not be the most, _pure,_ teacher, but he'll make sure Naruto's protected, and he'll give Naruto plenty of time to train on his own with some guidance, that's how he trained me and Naruko, some guidance to set us on the right direction with some advice here and there so we'd learn and grow from our mistakes and try ideas."

Kushina closed her eyes in frustration as she let go of her Husband, fists clenched hard, before relaxing her tense muscles, "God I hope you're right Minato, all this information and the wait by Naruto's bedside has gotten to me, I need to take a break."

Placing a hand on her shoulder Kushina leaned into his touch, feeling the love and concern in his voice as he suggested, "Why don't I take you back to Konoha so you can have a bit of a break before the tournament starts? For now though maybe it's best you take a walk to clear your mind, when I'm done discussing things with the Kazekage I'll come get you ok?"

Nodding back at him Minato gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek as she made her way out, the door sounding shut as the two Kage faced each other once more, Gaara speaking first as he suggested, "I think we should heighten up security for the exams, with the information that Naruto was targeted, it could be possible that others will be as well."

"I agree, in fact when I get back to Konoha I'll make a call to bring in some of my best Ninja to help with it." Minato responded

Looking out the window, Gaara had a determined look on his face, "To think, our first joint Chunin Exam would experience a complication like this."

Standing next to him Minato had an equally determined look on his face, "Which is all the more reason to make sure it goes smoothly, to show the world the step in a new era of peace."

And with that Minato left, off to find his wife and go home to prepare, leaving red-hair Kage by himself as he looked out at his village, the one he swore to protect.

_'You know you can say something, you've been quiet for a couple of days.'_

Nothing, no reply, leaving Gaara with only one way to contact his recipient, goading him.

_'To think my powerful Tailed beast is scared from just a couple of rumors, and I thought you said you were the strongest, huh, Shukaku?'_

And that did the trick as a loud booming voice rang out in Gaara's head _, **'WHO YOU CALLING SCARED! I TOLD YOU BEFORE I DON'T LIKE YOU! AND I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THOSE RUMORS, THE ONLY TAILED BEASTS I CARE ABOUT ARE MYSELF, THE REST CAN DISAPPEAR FOR ALL I CARE!'**_

Smirking to himself Gaara retorted, _'Oh really? Then why did you seem so excited when we faced Naruto? I could feel the sand moving with more energy than normal, in fact I think you did more of the battling while I just made sure the moves didn't do to much damage.'_

_**'That's cause I've always hated that fox! Getting her to come out and getting a chance to kick her ass was more than enough reason for me!'**_ The One-tailed stated.

_'Yet the clone was promptly destroyed right after she gave him her power, the only one who got their ass kicked was you.'_

**_'What did you say! You were the one holding ME back! I could kick both their asses if I wanted too! And I could kick your ass as well!'_** Shukaku shouted, ranting on while Gaara listened, though even with all the harsh words the beast said, Gaara couldn't help but smile in response, cause even if their relationship was rocky, it was better than it was a couple of years ago.

* * *

Elsewhere, in a small cafe in the Hidden Sand, a group of Chunin and Jonin were currently relaxing from their journey from their home village to this neighboring one. The group consisting of 3 females and 2 males were currently sat down at a table, as the girls mingled on one side, the guys mostly just keeping to themselves as they quietly ate their food. Looking out the window one of the males let out a yawn, not interested in the conversation the girls were having, which one of them pointed out.

"You know you could at least act like you're listening to us." Naruko called out to him.

Sighing from being put under the spotlight when he would've just preferred staying in the shadows "And what would be the point? Not like you're actually discussing anything of value to me, besides I'm tired." Shikamaru replied in his usual flat, unmotivated tone.

One of the other girls chimed in, "How are you tired? Its barely noon and we just arrived, and it wasn't like we were in a hurry to get to the sand." Sakura pointed out, to which the Nara clansman turned to look at her with his flat, dull expression.

"I meant mentally, after this I gotta report to the exam organizers, and who knows what they'll make me for the rest of the exam." He complied, before shuddering as he muttered under his breath, "And I'll probably have to work alongside Temari again."

Raising her eyebrow curiously Naruto asked, "Aren't you two a couple? Why would you be uneasy working with her?"

Her words made Shikamaru's face light up for a moment before his eyes took center stage, sending an ice-piercing glare at the blonde who flinched from the stare, "No, we are not a couple." He corrected.

"Hey, Ino said it, not me!" The Namikaze Uzumaki hybrid defended as she raised her hands up.

Sighing from the gossip of his teammate, Shikamaru went back to looking out the window, "It's not that I don't like her, its just that she's always hovering over my back making sure I'm working, I don't need someone acting like my wife before I'm even 20." He stated, before focusing his gaze on the reflection of the group on the window, more specifically the two Hyuuga's sitting at the end. "And what about you two? You've both been pretty quiet since we got here." He pointed out.

Neji didn't pay much mind to his question as he continued eating his food, swallowing one of its chunks down and taking a sip of his drink he simply said, "Don't really feel much of a need to talk."

Hinata meanwhile had her arms crossed on the table, her food barely being touched as she just stared at it, yet it didn't seem to be the thing she was focusing on.

"Uh, Hinata?" Naruko said, trying to get her attention but to no avail, causing the rest of the group to wonder what was wrong.

"Hinata?" The blonde asked again, but still no response.

Getting a bit irritated Naruko brought her face to the side of her best friend's head, cupping it over her mouth to direct it right into her ear, "Hinata!"

The snapped the blue-hair girl out of it as she imminently jumped up in her seat, eyes wide before realizing just how spaced out she was, "So-sorry." Hinata apologized.

But Naruko wasn't very interested in the apology as she and the rest of the group gave Hinata a concern and question look, "You ok? Why were you so spaced out?" The blonde asked.

Hinata felt her shoulders and form slump down while her face fell a bit, her gaze landing on the table as she took a deep breath, "I'm worried about Hanabi." She stated, the rest of the group listening closely as she continued, "This, in a sense, is her first real experience as a Ninja, she's unbelievably talented, much more than I could ever hope to be, and she's already much stronger than I was at her age. But even so, the Clan elders kept her under a somewhat tight lock, molding her to shape their image of a leader of the Hyuuga, and even when she became a Ninja, it just was more politics for her, no real experience on the field, even when traveling around she would always have a squad of elite Hyuuga guarding her."

"And?" Sakura questioned, wanting to know where her friend was going with this.

Taking another deep breath the former Heiress finished her words, "She doesn't really know the feeling of true defeat yet, while she's not cocky or too reckless, the most trouble she's ever had with something is currently trying to learn rotation, and even then she's progressing amazingly on mastering it. And not just that, she's using the Exam as a way to show to the clan elders that she has the skills and ability to stand on her own. But if she fails and doesn't make it to their standards, then not only will she truly learn the weight and pain of defeat, but the clan elders will tighten her grip on her life so much that me, Neji, and even our Father can't loosen." She explained, her voice filled with concern, "If that happens I don't know what will happen to her, something like that might be too much for her, so much so that I'm afraid she won't even be motivated to try and live her own life." Hinata finished, her voice now shaking and her arm trembling a bit in worry from a possible future.

Naruko placed a hand on her friend's shoulder to help calm her down, "Come on Hinata, you're worrying too much, I'm sure that she'll do great, I mean she is basically Neji in her skills, right?" The Blonde tried to reassure, turning to look at the branch clan member as she gave him a look that pretty much forced him to speak.

"Yes, she is, given a few more years she could probably surpass most of the Hyuuga," Neji stated.

"See? I know you're worried about her, but she can handle herself, all you need to do is support her when she needs it, besides I'm sure they're getting ready for the final prelims now." Naruko said, but Shikamaru knew he needed to clarify a mistake the blonde had said.

"Actually the final prelims are over, only the tournament is left." He corrected, catching the Blonde off guard from the news.

"Wait, it's just the tournament left?! Oh god, do you know if Naruto passed the other exam parts!?" She pleaded with her friend as she brought her form over the table, getting up in Shikamaru's face, who flinched from her invasion of his personal face while as she gave him a worried look.

"I don't know, I'll find out when I go meet with the other proctors" Shikamaru explained as he brought his hand up to push the child of the kage away from himself.

Getting her body back mostly on her side Naruko seemed to be full with energy as she stood up and proclaimed, "Than what are we doing just sitting around here for? Come on let's go and find out!"

"Wait, what?" Shikamaru exclaimed surprised as Naruko grabbed him and dragged him from the other side of the table, somehow not knocking over any of the plates or drinks as she set him down on the floor before the half-Uzumaki looked at Hinata, "You too." She stated.

"Huh?" The Hyuuga squeaked, being a bit surprised at being told to come along.

Giving her friend a look Naruko stated, "Don't you want to see if Hanabi passed? Now come on and move it! We gotta go and support our little siblings!"

Grabbing the Nara and Hyuuga, Naruko proceed to drag them out the store, Hinata accepting her fate while Shikamaru tried to break free but giving up halfway across the store as they left, leaving just Sakura and Neji by themselves to finish their food, a bit surprised at the scene but not nearly as so as the other patrons. But Sakura snapped out of her surprised when she realized one thing.

"God damn it Naruko, you left us with the bill!" She yelled frustratedly, making Neji also snapped out of his surprised as well, sighing from the mess the two were left with as he pulled out his wallet.

* * *

Outside Naruko was still dragging Shikamaru, while she had let Hinata go as they walked down the street.

"You can let me go now." The Nara pointed out, not exactly thrilled at the situation he was in and the stares he was getting, but Naruko paid his words no mind.

"Nah, its faster to just drag you." She stated with a chippy yet matter of fact tone, before taking a left on one of the intersections.

"Other way." Shikamaru corrected.

Quickly correcting her course the Blond let out a nervous chuckle, "Right, I knew that."

As Naruko dragged the lazy Nara around the Village, Hinata trailed on the side of them, looking around the sand village as this was admittedly, the first time she was here. But as she looked around she saw a familiar face pop into view.

"Hanabi?"

Hanabi brought her attention to the familiar voice, finding her sister on the other side of the street as their gazes met.

"Nee-chan?"

Naruko meanwhile stopped her movements when she heard Hinata call out to her sister, finding an alternate solution to finding out if her brother passed she proceeded to let go of her grip of Shikamaru, causing the Nara to drop to the ground with a groan as Naruko grabbed Hinata's arm as she ran to the other side of the road with her towed along, leaving Shikamaru to pick himself off the ground.

"Could've at least warned me." The Nara grumbled, rubbing his neck as he made his way over to the Hyuuga sisters and Naruko. Hanabi currently a bit shocked as Naruko was all up in her face.

"HeythereHanabilongtimenosee!Howyoudoing!?LookingprettygoodfromwhatIsee!" The blonde spoke quickly, her words barely being comprehended by the Hyuuga heiress.

Hinata, seeing her sister getting a bit overwhelmed decided to cool her friend's jets, "Naruko, you're overwhelming her." She pointed out.

Naruko, seeing that she was indeed overwhelming the younger Hyuuga who was leaning back from Naruko getting to close, pulled back and let out a nervous chuckle, "Sorry about that." Naruko apologize.

Hanabi blinked a bit as she realized the blondes overwhelming questions and invasion of her personal space was over, "Uh, no worries." The Hyuuga assured.

"You should be, just to make her feel bad," Shikamaru commented as he made his way over to them, before turning and giving Naruko a pretty annoyed look.

Shrinking from his gaze the Blond apologized for her actions, "Sorry about that."

Shikamaru gave a huff in response, even if the blonde meant it, which she most likely did, she'd probably do it again, that's just how she was. Turning his gaze to younger Hyuuga, Shikamaru quickly deduced why Naruko had dropped him.

"Hanabi, right? We were wondering what the current state of the exams is? I know it's just the tournament next so we were wondering if you and Naruto have made it this far?" The Nara decided to ask, not wanting to beat around the bush.

"Oh, um yeah, me and Naruto passed the other exams, we're gonna be in the tournament." The Hyuuga clarified, before realizing she should probably tell the blonde a pretty important piece of information, "Oh, and by the way, Naruto's currently in the hospital."

This piece of news caught the three Ninja off guard, immediately needing to know the status of her brother Naruko proceeded to grab Hanabi by the shoulders, surprising the black-hair girl was caught off guard by her grip, feeling how strong Naruko was making it unconsciously as she gave Hanabi a very concerned and worried look.

"Oh My God! Is he OK!? Is he hurt!? Did he do something stupid!?"

"Yes, he's ok! I just came from visiting him and he should be out by tomorrow!" The Hyuuga blurted out, hoping to calm Naruko down and get her to lessen her remarkably tight and strong grip.

"Oh thank goodness." Naruko breathed out in relief, loosening her grip on the girl who tried to discreetly remove Naruko's hands from her shoulder.

Hanabi made her way to her sister, the older Hyuuga gazing at the younger in curiosity, noticing how she seemed to have something to say. "Something wrong Hanabi?" She asked with concern, seeing Hanabi turn away quickly before bringing her gaze back to her.

"Uh, Hinata, I was wondering if we and cousin Neji could go out for training before the tournament, there are some opponents that are gonna be tough to beat at my current level. " Hanabi asked, seemingly a bit shy from her request.

Giving the girl a swear smile Hinata placed a hand on her shoulder, leaning down to match her height, "Of course, I'll go inform Neji of in a bit, we'll get something worked up for you by tomorrow." Hinata told her before bringing a hand up to her mouth to whisper in another part, "But for now, I think I'll go with Naruko to visit her Brother in the hospital, someone's gotta to make sure she stays in check."

Hanabi couldn't help but giggle a bit from her sister's remarks, "Sure, I'll see you tomorrow Nee-chan."

And with that Hanabi made her leave, heading off to who knows where.

Making her way to her blond friend Hinata brought a hand to Naruko's shoulder, "Come on, let's go visit Naruto."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Naruko accepted the two making there way to the Hospital, leaving a lone Nara by himself in the streets.

"Man come on, first I get dragged out of the cafe before finishing my food, left in the middle of the street, and now I gotta decided whether to head back to the cafe and maybe get to finish my meal, or head to the exam building which is closer and most likely get yelled at by Temari, doesn't matter when I come in, she'll find something to reprimand me on." Shikamaru grumbled, sighing in frustration, "Man what a drag."

* * *

Back in the Hospital room, Naruto was currently laid back in his head, resting his body while he focused on his mind, trying to think back on the exam so far and see what he could improve on before the tournament.

' _Well, I need more options for fighting. I could try practicing my sealing techniques with my scrolls a bit more, but I don't think that suits how I fight, then again I can't just keep using shadow clones either, sure their great for giving me strength in numbers and allowing me to strategize, but they can be taken out too easily, and that'll waste too much Chakra even by my standards when I could be using it for something else.'_ The blonde mussed, before bringing a hand to his hair in frustration, "Man why is it so hard to think of something! I've been around amazing shinobi all my life yet no ideas are coming to me!" He complained.

But his complaining was cut short when he heard a knock on his door, "Come in!" He called out to whoever was on the other side, wondering who they were.

And he got his answer as the door proceeded to burst open, revealing his elder sister who rushed over to him with breakneck speeds before pulling him into a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh my goodness Naruto I came as soon as I heard, you're not hurt are you? You healing ok? What happened? Did you do something stupid?" The twin-tail girl question, not noticing her Brother struggling to get out of her grip as he could've sworn he bones were gonna crack.

"Naruko, you're gonna crush him."

Glancing over his sister's shoulders Naruto saw Hinata standing behind her, closing the door to the room as she saw him look at her, giving the boy a sweet smile in return as she made their way over to them.

"Oh, right." Naruko realized as she let go of her brother, the genin landing back on the bed with an _umph_ , "Sorry about that Naruto." She apologized to her brother.

"Yeah, yeah." He grumbled as he tried to move his arms again, making sure they were too sore from the hug as he gave his sister a questioning look, "So what are you doing here?"

Giving a look of mock hurt Naruko answered, "What, I can't come and visit my baby brother for his first Chunin Exams? I thought you'd be happy to see me, especially after the ass-kicking it looks like you got." She teased.

"Hey, I still passed!" Naruto barked back, only to have Naruko flick his forehead, making him rubbed his temple in irritation from her flick.

"Yeah yeah," Naruko chuckled as she pushed his legs a bit to the side to make room and sat up on the bed, legs swinging off the side while she put one over the other, her side facing Naruto, while Hinata took a seat on the chair next to the bed as she watched the two siblings communicate.

"As for why we're here, since Shikamaru and Sakura said they needed to come and help set up the final parts of the exam or whatever, me and Hinata decided to tag along and see how you and Hanabi were fairing, oh, and Neji's here too." Naruko explained before giving her brother a curious look, "So what happened? It takes a pretty bad ass-kicking to get one of us into the hospital."

Naruto looked away from her sister, looking out the window next to his bed, his pause concerning his Sister and her best friend.

"Naruto?" Hinata asked, concerned for the boy.

"I got my ass kicked all right, the team who we face last round were good, even when I thought I was doing good, they just had more skill, and honestly, they might have had more motivation to win than me," Naruto explained, catching the two girls a bit off guard from his seriousness.

"More motivation?" Naruko question, wondering what he exactly meant.

Still looking out the window Naruto responded, "They were Rain ninja, apparently their land was used as battlefields during the last Great Ninja War, and the one I faced certainly appeared to hold a grudge, even then I fell right into her trap, got stab and woke up here."

_'Just stabbed?'_ Naruko thought, she knew how serious stab wound could be, but for someone like her and Naruto, they weren't nearly as bad, in fact, she's had her fair share of stab wounds, and even than the worse only took a day to heal, well there was that scar she got from Sasuke on her chest, but she gave him a fair sare as well, still, never was one so bad that it sent her to the hospital for a while. Then again, she knew her brother wasn't exactly on par with her regeneration so maybe that had something to do with it.

But Naruto wasn't finished as the two Chunin saw the Genin tighten his fist on the covers in frustration, "The thing is, they were better than us, and in the end Hanabi said we only passed on luck, the Rain Ninja seemed to just leave and I don't know why, in all honesty, we didn't pass cause we earn it, we passed from their pity."

Silence filled the room for a bit, the two girls taking in his words, and realizing just how much Naruto was putting himself down.

" _*Huff*_ " Naruko sighed out, reaching over to her Brother she flicked his head with much more force than last time, Naruto hissing in pain from the sensation, "Stop that." She ordered.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, confused while still holding his sore forehead as he gave her an annoyed and confused look.

"Stop doubting yourself." She told him, her expression stern as she stared at him, "My team only made it through parts of the exam through luck and pity as well, it happens, but if you're gonna broad and complain about you better just give up now. Instead of complaining about it wasn't the skills that lead to you passing, actually do something about and get stronger."

Hinata, feeling like she should jump in as well spoke, "Your Sister's right, take it from someone who feels like you do, the only way things will change is if you actually try and change it, it can be frustrating for things not to happen as you want, but that should just fuel you to make it happen next time."

Naruto felt speechless from the two's words, they somehow always seemed to know what to say together, one cutting to the point, while the other lifted him back up. Feeling his spirit rising again the Genin gave the two his trademark proud smile, making them both smile back from the sight.

"Thanks you two, I gotta make sure I don't waste my training with Uncle Jiraiya." He thanked, but the mention of Jiraiya caught his sister off guard.

"Wait, Pervy Sage is here? And you're gonna train with him?" She asked.

Looking at her in surprise, thinking she would already know of Jiraiya presence Naruto responded, "Yeah, he visited me a little while ago, said he'd meet me tomorrow to start training for the tournament, did you not know he was here?"

"No!" Naruko exclaimed, her facing turning into one of frustration, "He leaves for more than a year and when he comes back he doesn't even visit me! I'm his best student."

"I thought Dad was his best student?" Naruto interrupted.

But Naruko just gave him an angry stare that made him flinch, "Don't push it." She sternly ordered, to which she had the Genin shut up before she realized there was something she's been meaning to ask, "Wait, do you know who you're fighting for the tournament?"

Hinata perked up from the question as well, realizing she didn't even know who her Sister was facing as well. "Do you think you can tell me who Hanabi is facing as well?" She asked.

"Oh, Hanabi's facing a cloud Ninja named Karui, from what I can tell she and her team are strong, and I'm facing," Naruto paused for a bit, causing the two girls to worry about his opponent as he said the name, "Konohamaru."

Silence came over the room once more, the two girls a bit shocked at the opponent, before they saw Naruto start to laugh, "Man to think out of all the opponents I would have to fight him!"

Naruko couldn't help but start to laugh as well, "My student vs my little Brother, god who do I root for, the one I chose to train, or the one I've had to endure like a pain for most of my life?" She joked, a tear coming out of her eye from how fate seemed to place the matchup.

Hoping off the bed the blonde bombshell took a step towards the door, "Guess I better go find him than, I did promise to help him train." She stated before turning around, "You don't mind that, do you Naruto?" She asked, a bit curious about her brother's opinion.

But the Genin didn't seem to mind, "Go on ahead, it'll only make it better when I beat him!" He proclaimed with a daring smirk, his Sister smirking back.

"Well then I better go and make sure he's worthy of the fight, just know that when you do face him Naruto, he'll be a force to be reckoned with." The twin-tailed Sister stated while Hinata also got up, but as she was about to take a step to the door with her friend, Naruko got an idea.

Whispering into Hinata's ear Naruto thought he saw Hinata stiffen a bit, his sister pulling away from the bluenette before grabbing Hinata's hand and walking back to his bed, the two leaning on either side of his face respectively as the next thing he knew, he felt their soft lips pressed against each of his checks. His face going red enough that it would've matched the color of lipstick if either girl had worn any, the two pulling away as they saw the stunned look on his face.

Naruko seemed cheerful from the kiss, the face her brother giving off as well as Hinata's own red face being a treat for her eyes, grabbing her friends hand she pulled Hinata out of the room as she said, "Call that a gift for making it so far, and good luck training with Pervy Sage, you're gonna need."

And with that she closed the door, leaving Naruto alone by himself once again as he couldn't help but touch both his cheeks, he didn't know why, but he could feel his heart racing, just as much so as when his Mother was giving him his reward, and he didn't exactly know why.

* * *

"My my, looks like you still had a bit of fight left in you, even with Samehada snapping away at your chakra you were still able to save enough to try and escape." A Shark skinned man wearing a black cloak with red clouds dotting it spoke to the bloody red hair old-man on the ground in front of him, his skin charred from his attempted escape from his captors, a Stone forehead protector showing his Village of origin. But even with his grave wounds, the defeated Jinchuriki was still breathing, even if just barely.

A few feet away a young man black hair man wearing a similar cloak had his eyes turn from a red background with three dark tomoe fade away, giving his eyes their usual onyx color. "Let us go Kisame, and be delicate when carrying his body, just a drop could kill him at this point."

"Yeah yeah." The man now identified as Kisame replied, making sure to carefully pick the defeated Jinchuriki up from the ground and slinging him over his shoulder. Turning to his partner Kisame saw the man hold his head for a bit, or more specifically, cover his eyes.

"Even just having the Sharingan out is enough to give you a headache, ay Itachi?" Kisame joked.

Removing his hand from his face the Uchiha killer gave his partner a blank stare, "I'll manage." He assured before heading down the path they were originally on, "Now come on, we're already late."

Hurrying his pace to match his Kisame had a grin on his face, "What's the hurry? It's not like the rendezvous site is that far." He stated, trying to lighten the mood.

"The faster we get there the quicker we can seal him and rest before our next mission." The Uchiha explained.

"Yeah yeah, I guess you have a point." Kisame agreed, conceding in trying to have a longer conversation with the man. The two walking together in silence for the next couple of hours, with the sun above their head starting to set while the sky above them filled with dark clouds, a light drizzle setting over them.

Though the pair didn't have to stay in the rain for two longs as they finally reached their destination, a large entrance that was currently blocked a large boulder, a seal tag visible on its front. With a quick hand seal, Itachi had the boulder start to rumble before it began levitating off the ground, providing the two with enough space to move under it.

Making there way inside the cave the boulder behind them settled down once more, blocking the way in and out as the area was only dimly lit with a few torches. But on the other side of the cave, the pair could make out two figures along with a few of their features. One with bright long yellow hair, a bang on his front that covered one of his eyes with a half pony-tail on the back of his head, while the other one was much shortened and hunched over, having a wide frame with most of his face covered. The two of them each wearing similar cloaks to Itachi and Kisame.

"Ayy, took you guys long enough, while you two were taking your sweet ass time we had to seal the Three-Tails without you!" The yellow hair man complained, irritated at his comrades.

"Sorry about that Deidara," Kisame apologized to the man before turning to show the unconscious Jinchuriki on his shoulder, shaking the body a bit he stated, "But this guy was a lot more trickier to bring here than we thought, this old dog knows a lot of tricks."

But Deidara didn't seem too interested in the reason as he crossed his arms in annoyance, "Yeah, yeah." He mocked before walking up to the shark-skin man, or more specifically, the man over his shoulder, "Man Kisame you didn't hold back, it looks like he could die any second." He expressed, genuinely believing in the possibility.

And his partner seemed to believe in the possibility as well as he brought his head up, "Well then if that's the case then we should probably get started." He suggested, before turning to Itachi, taking a couple of steps towards the Uchiha the hunched over man had a tail come out from the back of his cloak. The metallic mechanical limb curled up at the end as it seemed to be holding something before unraveling, revealing a small glass jar sealed with a liquid substance as he presented it to the Uchiha.

"It's a new combination I've been trying out, it'll hopefully help with your disease for the next few months before we have to switch to a new type of medicine, lest we let the disease gets your body to create antibodies like with the last one." The man explained, Itachi taking the jar from him as he put it away in his pocket.

"Thank you, Sasori, you're medicine has been remarkable." Itachi praised his comrade, who seemed uninterested in the words as he turned away.

"It's nothing, that disease is honestly a nice little challenge for me, been a while since I've been this challenged as a chemist." Sasori explained, but before any of them could continue their conversation a voice cut through the air.

"If you are all done catching up, it's time to start the sealing."

Turning to the voice the four members saw a holographic projection standing in the room, the purple eyes he had confirmed his identity as their leader to each of them, and with a quick hand sign, the ground around the hologram began shaking, before something rose up. A giant, earthen-colored humanoid entity with a decayed appearance was how the members would describe the statue, its blindfolded face staring at them while its rose out in front of it, bringing its fingers up for 1 person to take each spot.

The holographic projection of their leader vanished, before reappearing on one of the fingers, and one by one several of the other fingers had holographic projectiles coming upon them as well. Knowing what to do the 4 Akatsuki members moved to their spots, with Kisame making sure to put the Jinchuriki in the center of this statue before going to his spot. And once everyone was in position, hand seals at the ready to add their chakra, their leader spoke once more.

"Now, let us begin, the faster we get this done, the more time we have to prepare for the invasion."

And with that, the sealing of the 4 tails begin.


	12. Summoning Strength

The sun was scorching today, no clouds to block out the rays that shone down, no shade in sight to hide under, it would've been a death sentence to be in the desert without proper gear. But apparently that sentence was being ignored by Naruto and Jiraiya, the two currently walking in the vast sand as they had left the village a couple of hours ago. But even if they were currently alive, they felt like they suffering a sentence worse than death.

"Uncle Jiraiya, why didn't we just train in the village?" Naruto questioned with a groan, barely keeping up with the Sannin as he was hunched over, sweat dripping down him everywhere as he tried to take a swing of his canteen, only to find he had already emptied its contents, "I feel like I'm gonna shrivel up and be cooked alive in my clothes."

"Just shut up and walk, we're almost there," Jiraiya replied with his own groan, even as a legendary Sannin the weather was getting to him.

But Naruto didn't believe his words, "You said that over one hour ago!" He pointed out, getting the White-hair sage a bit irritated.

"It was two hours!" Jiraiya snapped to correct, not thinking about his words.

"That's even worse!" The Genin complained, before grumbling out, "Why didn't we just train at the Village?"

Huffing in irritation Jiraiya turned his head towards Naruto, deciding to answer his godson's new question, "Look, the reason we're not training at the village is so that I can test you somewhere that fits my training style, also there's not a lot of places in that village that offer good training environments in my books." He explained before facing back down the path the two were originally walking. "Now shut up and walk, by our current pace we should be there in a few hours."

Naruto proceeded to groan from the statement, and Jiraiya had half-a-mind to join him.

* * *

Back in the Sand Village, a certain Blonde was currently inside one of the training rooms she got Gaara to let her use. Sitting on top of a railing nearby the blonde held a hand to the side of her head, watching as her semi-student, Konohamaru, struggle below.

What was he struggling with? Popping a water balloon.

"I still don't hear any water splashing the ground!" Naruko called out to him, only to see Konohamaru throw the water-filled fabric to the ground so hard that it burst, turning to her with a clear look of frustration on her face.

"You know that's not what I meant." Naruko deadpanned, referring to how he popped the balloon.

But Konohamaru didn't really seem amused by her words, "Well when the only hints you give me are _'rotation'_ I don't exactly have any clue on how to do that!" He complained.

Sighing the Daughter of the Hokage jumped down from her spot, walking over to him she extended her hand out and opened her palm towards the sky, "I'll show you one more time but after this, you'll have to figure the rest if this step on your own." She warned.

With her right palm open Naruko brought her left hand next to it. Before a low high pitch sound was heard and a small dark blue core was forming in her palm. Extending one of her fingers Naruko swirled it around the core, causing it to rotate and expand, its dark blue edges turning a lighter shade of sky blue while the core turned white, and as it got bigger, Naruko added more fingers to keep it in check, before the sphere got big enough for her to put her whole left hand over the sphere to stop it from expanding.

Pulling her left hand away nothing obstructed Konohamaru's view of the blue sphere, the sound it was producing drowning out all others while he could feel the power it emitted from where he was standing. He felt entranced by its power, until he was snapped out of it by Naruko crushing her hand, dissipating the orb in front of him.

"Rotation is the first step to learning the Rasengan, rotating the water inside fast enough to burst the balloon is how you'll learn this part. But if you can't get the rotation down soon, then you can forget about learning the Rasengan in time for the tournament." She explained, hand on her hip as she looked down at him.

Konohamaru though still seemed a bit confused, seeing the technique again he thought he may have a couple ideas to try, but another question unrelated to the technique he was learning popped into his head.

"Hey, Naruko, why are you helping me train?" He questioned the blonde, who looked at him with a confused look.

"Cause you asked me to?"

Shaking his head he clarified, "I mean why me and not your brother? This is his first exam after all, and I'm his first opponent after all? Wouldn't you feel bad if he lost cause you trained me and not him?"

Closing her eyes a bit Naruko leaned her weight onto one foot, crossing her arms over her chest she let out a sigh before staring at Konohamaru with a bit of an honest expression as she gave her replied, "Yeah, I would feel bad if he got knocked out cause I trained you." She stated with honesty in her voice.

"Then why are you helping me?" Konohamaru asked once more.

"Because I promised you." She stated before adding on, "I love Naruto, he may be annoying at times and we can get on each other's nerves but as little brothers go I wouldn't change a thing about him. Which is why I know he'll be fine without my help. He's had the help of my Mom and is currently training with Pervy Sage, the same one I trained with before my first tournament in the Chunin Exams. And even if I did help there really isn't anything substantial I can teach him now without overflowing him with work. He needs to be focused on his training and what he wants to accomplish." She told him.

Taking a pause she gathers her next words, speaking once again, "You on the other hand, need help, your Sensei can't be here right now, unfortunately. And your teammates are off doing what they can to prepare on their own. So the duty falls on me to make sure you have what it takes to stand on your own in front of the world." She said, before finishing her speech with a final statement, "Not to mention this will be good for Naruto, you're someone who I think he sees a bit as a rival, to think of when doing his best, if you aren't a tougher than him, how else can he not push himself to give it all he's got, cause no matter how strong an opponent is, when it comes down to it, its the will to win that delivers the final blow."

Finishing her little speech she gave the boy a bright smile before saying, "Now come on and train, I need you to be ready to give my brother a fight he'll remember for the rest of his life!"

Smiling back Konohamaru felt determination flow through him, it wasn't just winning the battle anymore, it was about making a battle that would push him and Naruto to greater heights.

* * *

_*SPLASH!*_

Jiraiya felt like giving out a sigh from the splash Naruto created, giving the boy a judging look when he surfaced out of the water.

Seeing the look he was getting gave his own as he narrowed his eyes back at Jiraiya, "What? After walking in the desert in that heat for hours I'll cool my body down as much as I like!"

"And now your clothes are wet." The Sannin pointed out.

But Naruto didn't seem to mind, "I'd rather they'd be soaked from this water than from my sweat, besides I should have an extra pair in my bag." He explained before getting out of the lake he was in. The two were currently near the left side of the board of the Land of Rivers, one of the buffer nations between the Land of Fire and Wind on the southern side of the continent. Luckily for the pair the harsh desert landscape they were originally traveling on turned into one of grassy scenery, with the two finding a fair sized lake to rest by for the rest of the day.

Seeing how it was all ready in the late afternoon, with the sun only being able to stay up for a few more hours Naruto decided now would be the best time to get food. Removing his jumpsuit to dry off a branch, leaving him mostly bare except for the spacey boxer briefs he wore. Jumping back into the lake Jiraiya saw the boy dive under, noticing his actions through the mostly clear water the Sannin could tell the boy was looking for any fish to catch, before appearing to spot a school of fish and swimming towards it.

Naruto seemed to swim at the fish with impressive speed, even so, when he reached the school they dispersed, and his hands weren't quick enough to grab any of them as they swam away. Jiraiya watched as Naruto continued to try and catch the fish for the next few minutes, usually getting close but unfortunately always having them slip through his grasp. On one of his returns to the surface to take in some air Jiraiya called out to him, getting Naruto's attention as he turned to his sensei for the trip.

"Don't you know the Shadow Clone Technique? Just use that to surround and catch them!" He suggested, but Naruto didn't seem to care for it as he shook his head.

"Too easy!" He shouted back before diving back underwater.

 _'Too easy?'_ Jiraiya thought, wondering what Naruto meant by that until the Genin in question surfaced once more with a proud look on his face as he held up a pretty large fish. The animal flapping around in the arms of its captor in a last ditch effort to survive, but unfortunately, fate wasn't on its side as Naruto easily made his way back to sure.

Smirking at the kid Jiraiya pointed to the little fire he had set up in the meantime. Hanging it over the flame Naruto went to go change into a dry set of clothes, leaving his wet ones to dry for now. As he made his way back and sat down he saw Jiraiya rotating the fish, making sure to properly roast all of its parts before they consumed it. In the meantime, though the Sannin decided to ask the boy a question.

"What did you me by using your Shadow clones would be _'too easy_ '?" He asked Naruto, who looked a bit surprised at the tone of which Jiraiya brought it up.

"Cause than catching the fish would be to easy for me." He simply replied.

But Jiraiya wasn't satisfied with the answer, "And? The Shadow Clone technique is perfect for someone like you, your ridiculous chakra reserves make the drawbacks of the technique only a fraction as dangerous for most others, I would think you'd use it for many things now."

But Naruto gave his teacher a somewhat serious look, "I don't want to rely on it." Naruto stated, surprising Jiraiya bit from his reasoning before the Genin continued, "Until the last exam I've just been abusing the technique, using it for all my fights, strategy, my whole fighting style was based around it. But even with the training I've gotten from Kaasan, on my own I'm still weak. One on one I didn't have enough skill to fight that Rain Ninja who got the jump on me. And because of my overuse of the shadow clone jutsu before the battle my chakra wasn't at its fill." Naruto explained, shocking the Sannin a bit from the boy's deep reflection on the technique, he had wondered if Naruto was over abusing the technique like this, and while he was right, for Naruto to realize that himself showed great maturity in the boy.

Naruto saw Jiraiya proceed to chuckle his words, confusing the boy a bit and irritating him at the same time.

"What?" Naruto questioned.

"Nothing." Jiraiya replied, holding his hand up to make sure the kid didn't get to mad at him before the Sannin spoke again, "It's just that it's pretty rare for a someone of your age to realize something like that on your, it's pretty impressive." The Sannin praised, before looking at his new student with a smile, "So then, quick question Naruto, how has Kushina trained you?"

Blinking a bit from the question Naruto crossed his arms as he tried to answer, "Well Kaasan has mostly trained me in improving my skills, lots of physical stuff along with a steady knowledge of Chakra control, she also sometimes test me by facing a variety of high-level opponents." Naruto explained.

"I see," Jiraiya hummed to himself, "I think I know what your problem is."

"My problem?" Naruto asked.

Looking at the Genin Jiraiya explained his stance, "Yes, Kushina, while a great Kunoichi and more than a partner to your Father in his prime, is currently still a bit rusty, she hasn't been in the game that much since you were born, and she still new as a Sensei. " The Sannin stated, giving pause to put together his next words before continuing, "I think that Kushina has been focusing too much on improving your skills on a whole that she hasn't really tackled much of your faults as a character. You may be as possibly skilled as a Chunin with a good mindset, but you're still being held back with the faults of a Genin."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Look at what you said before, you've been abusing the Shadow Clone Jutsu, that should've been something Kushina should've noticed before and helped you correct, however, her inexperience as a Teacher caused her to see you learning such a high-level technique at your age, thought it would be best to try and bring your regular skills up to that level as well. And in the process skipping some steps along the way." Jiraiya tried to explain, but from the confused look Naruto was giving him it looked like the blonde wasn't getting it.

Sighing, the Sannin tried to explain again, "OK, think of it like this, you start off at a higher level than the rest, most would assume you already know most of the basics, right?"

Naruto nodded in agreement, Jiraiya continuing he added, "Now if you stated off that high, some may think it's best to try and see how high you can ascend, so they'll keep challenging you with things above your level. But also in the process not going over the pitfalls that higher level can have,uUnderstand?"

Naruto once again nodded, starting to get what the Sannin was saying as he spoke once more, "By testing you at a higher level, you aren't checked to see where you are at your current one, aka, what you're good at and what you're not. So when Kushina kept pushing you to go over your current level, in the process she neglected to see where your individual traits were currently, and when she tested you, she focused on whether or not you could handle it, not what it was you had troubling handling. Thus she didn't help you with anything you may have struggled with, cause to her, your better aspects helped you to push on for the test."

"I think I get it," Naruto replied, remember how in his test while he was always able to keep up, he never really did improve on what he had trouble with, putting that stuff on the back burner while he trained on stuff he could do better on. Like fighting with shadow clones and not one on one.

"You said before you lost in a one on one fight, right?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yeah."

"Well then for your training we'll focus on giving you options, luckily you seem pretty crafty so the faults Kushina didn't address may not be much of a problem for you to deal with now that you're aware of them. I think that if you have more options, you'll be more aware what's best to use in a situation, you're at the stage where I don't think you need to fix your faults completely just yet, but instead, focus on ways to make sure your enemies can't take advantage." Jiraiya said as he gave his plan for their trip, Naruto looking determined as he now knew exactly what to work on.

Looking back down at their food though, he smirked, "But we'll focus on that tomorrow, for tonight lets eat and rest."

And with that they ate, ready to begin their training for the trip.

* * *

Back in the Konoha, a certain Redhead Uzumaki was currently soaking up, hands behind her head as she let the water cascade over her body, running down he slim, taught, and curvy figure. Grabbing a bottle of shampoo on the rack she opened it up and pushed out the substance from inside. The shampoo squirted out into her awaiting open palm, after thinking she had enough she closed the bottle and put it back, before bringing her hands together and applying the shampoo on her hair.

Kushina couldn't help but smirk as she felt the substance run over her body, while the water glided over her skin, it felt like the shampoo was giving her a light, pleasant scratch as it made its way from her hair to her body, making her skin cleaner than before as she made sure to wash all of her body parts. Turning off the water Kushina opened the glass door to the shower, grabbing a towel that was on the ready nearby as she dried herself off. Sure if she wanted she could've used a jutsu to do that but there was always some sense of comfort of just drying yourself off with a towel, letting the water melt or evaporate into your skin after a good shower. At least on your skin, the hair was something different.

Stepping out of the shower she grabbed the dark red bathrobe she had and swung it over her body, its fabric helping to dry off her skin while also being very comfortable, not to mention also still showing off her curves. As she walked over to the mirror she wrapped the towel around her long hair, using a quick seal to help dry most of it as the water soaked up the liquids while still leaving a healthy amount in it as to not dry up her hair. Tossing the towel in a nearby bin Kushina saw her figure reflected in the nearby full body mirror provided, and she couldn't help but smirk at how she looked.

Even at her age she still didn't look a day over 20, and didn't feel like a day over 28. God bless the positives as training as a ninja, those routines and chakra control helped to keep the body young, but her Uzumaki genes certainly helped as well, as the wife of the Hokage decided to let the robe around her fall a bit, letting her take in her naked form.

Her breast looked large yet not massive, sagging just a bit but not enough to be any sort of problem. Her hips round and wide, a testament to the two children she had birthed. And speaking of giving birth, the place where they came out from still looked as healthy as one could hope. While her outer lips may have parted just a bit, the inside of her vaginal was as tight and pink as it could be. Turning to the side slightly the mother also saw the muscles she's gained over the years starting to resurface from her return as a ninja, even then they only added to her beautiful form. Not to mention her thigh muscles seemed to have expanded a bit, pushing up her ass and jutting it out slightly, it may have not been as impressive as her breast, but her cheeks below were something to be proud of as they would've been more than a handful.

 _'I wonder what Naruto would do if he saw me like this? The most he's seen me is in my nightwear but even then I don't think he's been able to take in the full package, maybe I'll make it a reward for him down the line.'_ Kushina mused as she tilted her head and brought a finger to the side of it. Leaning down to retrieve her robe and put it back on as she made her way out the bathroom.

Putting on a pair of sandals the Uzumaki made her way to the kitchen in her current attire she continued to muse on the subject of the rewards she was giving her son/student, _'I mean I have given him a blowjob, would seeing me naked really be that much for him, oh what am I saying he's a prepubescent teenager constantly surrounded by beautiful women, be it me or Naruko's friends, seeing any sort of skin for any of us would still be a treat for him, though hopefully, these rewards aren't making him forget how to properly treat a women. He still seems to have that crush on Hinata though so maybe that'll help keep him in check?'_

But before she could think on the subject any longer she heard the door open, and while she wasn't able to see who came in from her place at the countertop, she could immediately tell who it was.

"It's pretty rare for you to come home this early, something happen?" Kushina asked, the voice of her husband answering back.

"I guess you could say that I've finished up preparing everything I could for the Village before the tournament, so Shikaku basically ordered me to rest up for the next few days." Minato replied, Kushina hearing him take off his shoes and coat before sitting down on the couch.

"Would you like me to make a sandwich for you then?" Kushina called out while taking out the ingredients to make her own.

"That would be great honey." He replied.

And with that confirmation, Kushina quickly whipped up the snack for the two of them before placing them on a plate and walking over to him. Minato giving a tired yet happy smile on his face from both her and the food as she placed the plate on the table in front of them while she sat down next to him and ate her own.

"So you'll be staying at home for the next few days?" Kushina chirped as she dug into her snack and eyed him from the side of her eye, a part of her feeling giddy if that was true.

"Yep." He confirmed while taking a bite out of the food before turning to face her as he swallowed it down, "So for the next few days we'll just be able to relax and be together."

But the Hokage didn't notice the devious smirk that came over his wife, the women immediately finishing up her food before grabbing the knot that held her robe together.

"I don't know if we'll be able to relax," Kushina stated, causing Minato to pause his eating and eye her from the side, only to almost drop his food from the look his wife gave him.

"Now finish up that food honey, cause you're gonna need the energy if you hope to keep up with me, its been ages since we've just had the house to ourselves, and I intend to abuse it." The red-hot sensei stated as she undid the knot on her robe, letting the front of it part a bit but not enough to start showing everything.

 _'I really need to let out this heat I've gained from the rewards I've given to Naruto, there's only so much a woman can tease before she needs to let it out too.'_ Kushina thought, and the way her lips smirked made Minato think whether or not it was a blessing or a curse for his wife to have this much of a sex drive.

* * *

"Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as he placed his hand down to the ground.

But even though nothing came out, Naruto didn't seem dejected, probably cause he was just making sure he was getting the movements right.

"Like this, right?" He asked his new Sensei, who while didn't seem to disapprove of anything, didn't look that impressed as well.

"You still seem a bit unsure of your hand signs, probably since most of the techniques you've been using so far don't require much of them. Even so, you need to make sure you get the seals down flat and in order or else you'll experience recoil, and trust me, it doesn't feel good." The Sannin warned before crossing his arms, "Now keep practicing the motions, in the meantime, I'll get the contract and seal ready for you to sign."

Nodding back at the man Naruto continued to practice the seal, each time feeling a bit more confident in his ability to get them down in good time and not needing to think about i, before deciding to call out to his Sensei and ask a question, "So why do you want me to learn the summoning Jutsu? Wouldn't there be perhaps better techniques for fighting one on one?"

Still sitting on his spot the Toad Sage answered his question, "Maybe, but this technique is kinda a stable in your family. Not to mention this will allow you to still have strength in numbers and some of the strategy's you used with your shadow clones, but keep your body at full strength." Jiraiya explained, Naruto accepting his answer and going back to his seals.

And just as he was about to go through the motions once more he heard Jiraiya call out to him. Turning towards the man he saw him opening up a large a scroll.

Walking up to him Naruto saw several different names on the scroll, from Jiraiya to his father and even sister, the space next to her's empty.

"So how do I sign?" Naruto questioned as Jiraiya placed the scroll on the ground.

"Get some of your blood, write your name in the empty space next to your sister's, and stamp it on the bottom with the fingers of one of your hands." The Toad sage explained.

Nodding in understanding the Young Genin bit his thumb to draw some blood, before writing out his name in it. And when he reached the bottom he placed some of his blood on his other fingers before stamping them down. Pulling back he saw Jiraiya nodding as he said, "And now the contract is complete."

Rolling up the scroll, Jiraiya had it disappear in a puff of smoke, smirking as he stood up he looked at the boy, "Now, let see you try it out!"

Naruto gleamed in excitement as Jiraiya took a couple back to give his student some room. With a moment to catch his breath, Naruto began used the blood he used to sign the contract and began to go through the signs a bit too quickly for Jiraiya's taste, and with a slam of his hand he shouted, "Summoning Jutsu!"

But instead of smoke rising, a force propelled Naruto backwards, sending him crashing into a nearby tree.

Jiraiya sighed, "You didn't do the bird sign correctly!" He told the boy, who got up quickly though with a groan and made his way back to the Sage, before going through the hand-signs once again, though slower than before, slamming his hand down and once again shouting, "Summoning Jutsu!"

A large plume of smoke erupted in front of the boy, the force of it also forcing the boy back a bit. This also caused Jiraiya to widen his eyes a bit, in anticipation of what would come out, though when he remember Naruko's training, the sage made sure to temper his expectations.

Even so Naruto's gleam was more than enough for the both of them, especially when he saw a dark shadow inside the smoke, tall enough to maybe come up to his head, the figure also being seen by Jiraiya, but even though he couldn't fully see it, something felt familiar about the toad that would soon show.

"Yo!" The toad from inside the smoke said, surprising Naruto from its ability to talk, but the voice Jiraiya heard immediately gave Jiraiya a potential candidate to who the toad might be, _'Is that?'_ He thought.

But before he could think on the identity any further, the toad spoke once again.

"Naruko?" It said as the smoke around its form finally cleared, showing the toad sage and genin its appearance. A predominantly orange toad with blue markings around its head and belly, a blue vest over its shoulder as it eyes, pupils in the shapes of roundish side lying rectangles stared at the one who summoned it.

' _Gamakichi,_ ' Jiraiya identified. The orange toad looking at its summoner in apparent confusion.

"Wait, your not Naruko." Gamakichi started, snapping Naruto out from his shock at the mention of his sister's name once more,"Who the hell are you?" The Toad asked

"You know my sister?" Naruto questioned the Toad, a look of confusion on the boy's face, which than transferred over to the toad as well.

"Sister?"

"You heard him right, Gamakichi," Jiraiya called out, causing the orange summon to pause a bit and turn towards the familiar voice.

"Jiraiya?" Gamakichi asked, before changing his face to one of happiness "How you been? Still on that dangerous mission of yours?"

"Nope, I'm done with that mission, right now I'm training this brat." Jiraiya stated as he placed a hand on Naruto, "This here is Naruto, he's Naruko's younger brother."

"Really?" The toad asked, to which the Sannin nodded, "Well than nice to meet you, Naruto."

Snapping out of his daze Naruto responded, "Oh, nice to meet you too. By the way, how do you know my sister?" He asked, curious about the exact relationship between the toad and his sister.

"Oh, she tried to summon my dad once and got me instead, than she saved me from some crazed killer, so you know, she's cool" Gamakichi explained.

"Yeah, she is." Naruto agreed

"So, why exactly was I summoned?" Gamakichi asked, walking up to face to face with the boy and making Naruto sweat-drop as the toad seemed to size him up.

"Cause this was Naruto's first time summoning, couldn't really choose what he'd summon, though considering its you, I guess its fate." Jiraiya explained.

"Really?" Gamakichi questioned before looking at Naruto, "So you want to be my summoner, huh?"

Naruto nodded in response, the Toad seemingly having a serious expression as he eyed the boy, Naruto staring back in determination. Only for the Toad to crack a smile.

"Eyy, why the hell not."

* * *

A series of sharp, yet soft like gust were heard in the training rooms, the ones producing them being Hinata and Neji, while Hanabi was in between them, doing her best to dodge and deflect every blast. Her eyes felt strained as her visible veins looked like they were going to pop, but still, she kept on, using her byakugan to see every attack, every angle, and not focus on anything else.

"Come on! If you want to master the rotation than don't even let a strike get past your arm!" Neji shouted, emphasizing his point as he moved his strike to hit under her arm, the heiress barely able to deflect it in time, but was so focused on that single strike, she didn't notice the one Neji threw right in front of her.

 _'Shit!'_ The girl realized, the palm of his hand heading straight towards her face, moving to fast for her to stop. Closing her eyes in preparation she waited for the strike to hit, only to instead feel a gush of wind flowing past her face. Opening her eyes she saw the palm of his hand right in front of her, unmoving until Neji pulled it back. Looking at the girls face the branch member took a sigh.

"Let's take a break." He suggested before moving away, going over to where he kept his refreshment.

Hanabi though, just looked at the floor, feelings of frustration taking place inside of her. Her face scrunching up, body tensing, and fist tightening, but before she could let it go further, a hand landed on her shoulder that made her forget about it for a moment. The hand belonging to Hinata as she gave her younger sister a sweat, caring smile, making the heiress feel a bit more at ease.

"Don't worry about it, it's only been a couple of days yet you're so close to getting it." The Bluenette stated.

But Hanabi didn't seem to share that optimism, "Maybe, but the longer this takes, the more frustrated I feel, it's not just about mastering this technique, I need to learn when would be the best time to use it, how to incorporate it into my fighting style, otherwise the times I will be able to use it will be limited." Hanabi explained, making Hinata sigh inwardly about her sound the girls reasoning was, meaning how much more difficult it would be to make her think about anything else.

"Let's talk about something else? Ok?" The Elder sister suggested as she led the younger one down to where they kept their gear, a few feet away from Neji's spot giving them some privacy in the training hall.

Taking a seat on the wooden floor the Hyuuga sisters took a swing of their drinks, feeling refreshed as they leaned back against the wall.

Turning to her sister Hinata asked, "So, did you make any new friends?"

Putting down her water Hanabi answered with a somewhat dry response, "I guess, I met a pretty nice team from the Sand, they help us out a bit, I feel bad though that they weren't able to get through the third exam though."

"Oh," Hinata breathed out, taking a swing of her drink she was not expecting the quick and straightforward response, but what caught her off guard more was what her little sister said next.

"Naruto cares for you by the way."

Hinata almost choked on the water as she gasped in surprise, the water she had in her throat spitting out as she went into a coughing fit, her little sister looking at her worriedly as she tried patting her back to clear her airways. But once Hinata's coughing went away, she looked at her sister with a flustered look.

"What!" Hinata exclaimed, her cheeks red with embarrassment.

Looking at her confused Hanabi repeated what she said, "Naruto cares about you, and I mean by a lot, considering I heard him mention you in his sleep, along with some of his family, though considering how often you hung around him while he was growing up, he probably sees you as such." She elaborated.

Hinata felt her face heat up, the information of how Naruto mentioned her in his sleep made her heart flutter, "I see."

But before the Bluenette could linger on it any longer Hanabi asked something.

"Why did you care about him so much?"

"Huh?" Hinata was not expecting a question like this.

Sighing as she got the nerves to ask again Hanabi turned to look at her, "Whenever I saw him out in the village, if he wasn't with his family, then you'd probably be the one with him, and even then it seemed like you would tag along most of the time when he was with his sister."

Hinata sighed, looking for the words to best explain what she wanted to say, finding them a moment later the former heiress explained her past actions, "It felt nice just being him. When I was in the outs with most of the Hyuuga, I'm sure you knew how much time I spent at Naruko's house, and her family treated me like one of their own, but Naruto, Naruto went above everyone else. No matter how things were he would make me focus on him, be it asking to play, helping him study, or if he wanted to go out for something to eat. He was so energetic, it was infectious, and it always helped to take my mind off the things that were dragging me down." She explained, taking a moment to pause her words as she gripped her chest before finishing, "So I made myself a promise to always pay back his kindness, making sure to be with him when no one else couldn't, and make sure he was always safe, and happy."

Hanabi saw the smile her sister bore while saying her words, and she could only smirk to herself, "So you do like him? Huh."

"Yes," Hinata stated with a smile, seeing no reason to lie to her Sister.

Hanabi proceeded to stand up, hand on her hip she gave her sister a smile, "Well if that's the case, then hopefully you won't hold it against me when I beat him in the finals" She declared.

Hinata smirked at her sister's confidence, but even though, she felt happy knowing it was back, "I'll be rooting for both of you." She said standing back up.

The two Hyuuga sister's looked at each other as they shared their moment of bonding, which each could only cherish, only to be interrupted by Neji calling them back to train.

* * *

Naruto was currently leaping from tree to tree, barely dodging white needles flying past him, littering the forest-scape as Jiraiya stood in the middle of a clearing surrounded by the trees, not needing to move as he had his hair expand and protect him and pointed in all directions. Even though it could be seen as a handicap he told Naruto he wouldn't move from this one spot, to the Genin himself it didn't seem to make much of a difference as he felt like one wrong move would put him out of commission for the rest of the day.

Throwing another kunai at the Sage, Naruto could see it getting blocked by the storm of needles heading in his direction, but even so he could see the kunai, along with a few others he was able to get into the ground all around Jiraiya, and seeing how the storm of needles was about to catch up to he knew it was now or never to enact his plan. Jumping down he ran towards one of the planted kunai, pulling it out with all his might the sound of wires tightening and scratching with others was heard.

Jiraiya scoffed a bit as the wires tighten around him, preventing him from firing accurately and possible doing some real damage. Sure at his level this was nothing for him to get out of, but it was a clever and sound idea for the boy to try out in the situation he'd given him.

And Naruto decided to take advantage of the situation, jumping up he pulled out a paper bomb attached to a kunai as he shouted, "Gamakichi, Now!"

And with that, a jettison of oil shot from the forest towards the old man, throwing his kunai at the oil Naruto made sure to land a bit away as the oil lit on fire.

 _'God this is gonna be a pain to wash out later.'_ Jiraiya thought as he did his best to cover his body with his armor hair, grunting in both irritation and slight pain when the attack landed, burning parts of his hair.

"Let's go!" Naruto shouted as Gamakichi jumped out of his hiding spot, the two rushing at the Sannin together in an attempt to take him down while he was recovering from the attack, only to stop in place when the ground beneath them broke and a stretch of long white hair wrapped around the two of them, immobilizing the two.

"Not bad, but I'm sure the two of you can do better," Jiraiya stated, his hair breaking away at the wire that held him, parting a bit at his front to show his body mostly fine after the attack.

"Damn," Naruto complained, wiggling a bit to try and loosen the grip around him until he was dropped along with the toad.

"Your strategy was good, but predictable once it was set in motion, and at your level, you don't have the strength to make up for that predictability, you can be pretty outlandish if you want to, turn that into a strength.." Jiraiya advised, Naruto nodding in understanding.

Seeing that the sun was almost set for the day, Gamakichi face the two, "Yo, I think it's about time for me to leave for the day, I promised my bro I'd help him catch dinner tonight, see ya tomorrow." He said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"He has a brother?" Naruto asked.

"Yep." Jiraiya confirmed before turning to the boy, "Now why don't you go and get some rest, we're gonna be heading out somewhere in a day or two."

Hearing the word rest Naruto couldn't help but yawn, all the training for the past couple of days was wearing him out, and he needed to get some sleep, and wash up a bit.

"Sure." The Genin responded, before making his way back to camp, Jiraiya meanwhile took out a map, making sure he had down the route they would take, his eyes passing over a line that read as 'The Great Naruko Bridge'.

* * *

"We're in the right place, right?" A black hair young man asked.

"The scroll said this spot," His white-hair sensei answered, "But I don't think it was very specific on the time."

"Even if it did something tells me you'd just get here late Kakashi-sensei" The young man joked, causing Kakashi to embarrassingly put his hand on the back of his head.

"Oh don't be that mean, Sasuke, even so, I think our biggest worry is who is actually gonna show up, we still don't know who this secret informant is," Kakashi replied before a familiar voice cut in.

"Well, why don't you have a look and see." The two Leaf Ninja immediately turned towards the voice, up in the trees stood a familiar grey hair man.

"Kabuto." Sasuke spat out with venom, before unsheathed his katana and shouted out in demand, "What are you doing here?!"

Orochimaru's right-hand man only scoffed at the threat, rearranging his glasses he replied, "Well this is the place I told you two to meet me out, it would be rude of me not to show up."

"What's your game? Why would you send us all that information on Orochimaru? We all know how loyal you are to him." Kakashi demanded.

"Because Orochimaru ordered me to, the only way to get you two to come out here was to give you such valuable and accurate information that you couldn't pass up," Kabuto explained.

"So this is a trap?" Sasuke accused as he was just waiting to let loose on Kabuto, but the man could only chuckle in response.

"Trap? No, quite the contrary, I'm actually here to give you a gift." Kabuto stated before taking out a scroll and tossing it towards them, Kakashi catching it as he and Sasuke eyed it and Kabuto suspiciously.

"Inside you'll find the location of three very valuable assets that Orochimaru believes you'll find useful." Kabuto told them, but the Uchiha and Jonin weren't convinced.

"How can we trust you, for all we know this could trust be some step in Orochimaru's goal?" Kakashi asked.

Kabuto could only bring his arms up, "I don't know, but I'll tell you this, those assets will prove remarkably useful for what's about to come, enemies of both of us are about to move, and we don't want to them to win just as much as you."

And with that the Grey hair man vanished, leaving Sasuke and Kakashi to ponder his words as they looked at the scroll.

* * *

Naruto was back at the camp, resting in his sleeping bag, put right now he wasn't focusing on sleeping, instead, he was focused on trying to contact the Kyuubi. Ever since he had woken up it's just been silence, at first he thought it might be from her resting, but now he was starting to get worried. He had to make sure she was ok, but he didn't know how to check up on her without her communicating back, its always been her who had the power to bring him into the lair, he still had no way how to do it himself.

But then he started to feel something, a burning sensation on his stomach. He ignored it at first, but the longer he kept trying to contact Ku, the worse it seemed to get before it felt like his skin was scaling. Sitting up quickly he hunched over, grabbing his stomach as the pain stayed with him, but when he looked down at him, he saw that he was glowing under his shirt.

"What the?"

Pulling up his shirt Naruto saw that the seal that held Ku to him was glowing in a purple-like hue. But then it started flashing, and the pain Naruto was feeling got worse as tears started to form and it felt like he could scream

Walking out of the forest Jiraiya rubbed the back of his head, ready to shed his baggy, layered day clothes into something more comfortable. But when his eyes landed on the camp the relief he was looking forward to turned into worry when he saw Naruto hunched over, grunting in pain as a strange glow emitted from him.

Rushing over to him Jiraiya kneeled down, hand on the boys back as he asked with concern, "Naruto! What's wrong?"

"My-, my seal. It feels like its scalding my insides." He grunted out, the pain clearly getting to him so much it was doing as much damage to his mind as an actual wound.

Grabbing Naruto the Toad Sage quickly placed the boy on his back, lifting up his shirt so that he would have more room he took a look at the seal, and it didn't look right. Its usual center swirling pattern spilling out a bit on its sides, and there was something new, a dark center spot that was never part of the seal before.

Placing his hand on the seal Jiraiya did his best to assess what was actually happening. Using his chakra he was able to stop the spiraling seal from spilling out, bringing it back to its usual pattern, but that spot on the center, that was something else. It was like a plug, a lock that stopped the seal from letting the chakra it was containing safely spill out, a controlled flow, but now there was nowhere for that chakra to flow to, just bottling up inside.

Deciding to focus on it later Jiraiya placed a finger at the beginning of the spiraling seal, before tracing it along its line, bringing in any stray marks back to its original route as he swirled it around. Finishing the move he saw Naruto's breathing return to know, the pain he was feeling apparently gone. His breaths becoming deep.

Placing a finger on the center spot Jiraiya felt an immense pressure from it, as though it was trying to get his finger to go away, but even so, Jiraiya kept it where it was. Pushing his finger down firmly Jiraiya sent down a strong string of chakra to its tip, locking itself with the new seal as he felt his chakra interconnect with its, and he felt a chill run down his spine. Whosoever chakra made this seal, it gave off a sense of dread, Jiraiya could only describe it as cold, hard, lifeless, even so, he felt his chakra hooking onto every latch in the seal, a strong connection forming as he began to try and pull it out. But one movement of his finger made Naruto scream in pain.

"AAHHHHH" The Genin screamed, instantly trying to move his hands to cover the seal but felt no strength in them to do so, only the strength to scream was accessible to him.

Flinching from the sound the boy made Jiraiya just prayed that he could bear with it for just a little longer. But when he moved his finger up a little more in an effort to extract the chakra, the bit he was able to take out only caused the rest to the rest to tighten up in place, making it harder for him to pull it out.

 _'Damn, can't do this by myself lest I risk putting Naruto in the hospital again, and I'm already too far along to try and contact Minato.'_ The Sannin thought, not knowing how to pull out the rest of the chakra, but then he thought of something.

_'Why not push as well?'_

Looking back at Naruto he stopped his attempts to pull the chakra out for a moment, the Genin stopping his screaming as he took a deep breath, tears visible on his eyes. But before he could say anything he felt Jiraya's thumb pressing down on his forehead.

"Naruto, I'm gonna be frank, whatever happened to your seal isn't good, now I should be able to fix it, But that's only if I'm able to pull out this chakra that's here, however just pulling it isn't enough, I need someone to go on the other side and push it well. I need you too inside of you mindscape and find the chakra on the other side, and using all yours to push it out." Jiraiya explained, the Genin barely processing his words before the Toad Sage asked, "Do you understand?"

Naruto simply nodded his head, he may not have understood the specifics, but he knew all he had to do was push this chakra out, if whatever this thing is was the reason he couldn't contact Ku, then god he would do everything he could to get rid of it. Taking a deep breath Naruto signaled as best as he could to Jiraiya to do whatever he needed to. And it seemed that the Sannin understood the signal as he pressed down on the Genin's head, and Naruto felt blackness overtake him.

* * *

Naruto found himself back in the somewhat familiar landscape of Ku's lair, but he could imminently feel something off. Never before had he felt such a dark and cold tone to the place, brooding and dim most of the time, yes, but this felt just downright evil. Staying in place Naruto tried to feel out the source of the what he was feeling, before noticing the cold like breeze on his back. Turning around Naruto followed the breeze to its source, walking along the corridor he could tell he was getting closer as the air around him turned colder, to the point where he started to shiver.

Making it around a corner Naruto felt his skin go cold. There was a massive black rod protruding through the hall's wall. It's aura giving off a similar vibe to what he felt from that man who attacked him and Ku. And its look bearing a similarity to the rod Naruto remember being stabbed with.

Taking a deep breath Naruto walked up to the rod with heavy, slow steps, as it felt like its very aura was pushing him back. But once he was right next to it, he felt his heart start to race. Placing his hand on the tool Naruto's mind immediately flashed towards an image, an image of those eyes, a purple backdrop with dark rings staring back, it terrified him. But even so, the rage he felt at the person for hurting him and Ku, and now trying to block them from communicating gave him enough strength to continue on.

Pushing the rod with all his might Naruto heard a creak and crack, his chakra feeling as though it was being sapped, his body dripping in cold sweat from the fear he felt from the aura, and the strength he was using to push. And the Naruto could feel the rod get looser and looser, and after moving it halfway from its original spot Naruto heard a boom, and the rod was gone.

A sharp pain coming from his stomach that caused him to hunch over, but a wave of relief soon followed as the ones of dread left him. Naruto laid back against the wall to catch his breath, but then he noticed something.

"I'm still here?"

He was still in the corridors, not being whisked away like he thought he would. Seizing the opportunity that this could be his chance to find Ku and talk to her. Running down the corridor Naruto looked for anything that could give him a clue to the center room that held her, before feeling a somewhat warm breeze now passing through him, following it he was lead down corridor after corridor, the air around him feeling like a warm coat that had just been put on him after going outside in the cold weather unprepared. And then he turned a corner and saw Ku, but not how he expected.

Instead of locked behind a cage like she usually was, she was smack dab in the middle of an open room, her body was laid sideways, her back to him as she appeared motionless. Running up to her Naruto kneel down to her form, he didn't even think as he wrapped his arm around her, bringing her head and chest up from the shallow waters as he looked on her unconscious form, feeling relief as he saw her chest rise up in down, indicating she was breathing.

 _'She looks, cute.'_ Naruto thought as he took in her features, her face appearing soft, peaceful, and tired too. But then the Genin realized what he was thinking and mentally slapped himself, _'Focus!'_

Shaking her body Naruto called out to her, "Ku, Ku please wake up!? Please be ok!?" The boy pleaded.

He kept this up for a couple of seconds before he noticed her eyes start to stir. Slowly opening up her eyes seemed a bit dazed, before landing on the most recognizable thing in her sight, her Jinchuriki.

"Naruto?" She questioned, not understanding what was happening, her mind feeling fuzzy.

"Oh thank goodness!" Naruto cried in happiness, before bringing Ku into a tight hug, his head on her shoulder while her body was smooshed against him, "I was so worried." He cried, tears of relief and happiness starting the flow.

Ku, was in one word, surprised. Questions were flooding her mind, from what happened, to where was she, and how was Naruto hugging her. But before she could think of an answers to them, she was able to register Naruto's touch, his warmth, his body pressed against her in a way she thought she'd never be able to feel again, and his clear concern for her condition in his voice made her cheeks start to turn a bit red.

Deciding to focus on those questions another time Ku just returned the hug, the two melting into it. And Ku couldn't help but bring a smile on her face.

* * *

Off faraway, on the other side of the land that held the Great Nation was one of the Great Villages, surrounded by clouds and mountain peaks, its buildings becoming part of them as well, there stood the Village Hidden in the Clouds. And at the center of the village stood its tallest tower, a large blue structure that looked over the village.

And inside the tower was the office of the Raikage, the most powerful shinobi of this land, who was currently speaking with his assistant, Mabui, a young, dark-skinned women with a formal attire, her light grey hair pulled into a bun on her head while two bangs fell on the sides of her face.

"The final preparations for the invasion are set, all we need to do now is wait." She informed the man, her tone flat and her expression calm, but even so inside she was terrified, this attack, no matter how much the odds were in her village favor, would most certainly bring about a great loss of life.

"I see, if that's all you may leave." He stated, Mabui bowing before making her leave. Left in silence with only his two bodyguards the Raikage decided to have some privacy, "Darui, C, leave me alone for a few minutes."

"Yes Sir,"  
"Sure"

With that spoken the prences of the two guards was gone, leaving the Man by himself as he turned his chair around and looked out to his village. Its peaceful state bringing a sense of pride to the man inside, but also fear for how close it seemed that peace was about to be lost. Standing up his white coat swished and showed off his dark muscular build, hist whitening-blonde hair pulled back while his mustache and goatee were groomed for his build. But even so, it seemed like his eyes were dead inside.

"My my, I need this time to stretch my limbs, hiding out for so long makes my limbs so stiff" A man stated as he came out through the walls, a black cloak around his form while the rest of his body was hidden, but when he turned to face the Raikage's back, he could see his orange swirled mask in the reflection of the window, a light red glow protruding through the hole of his mask.

Turning towards the man the Raikage said nothing, or more accurately, couldn't say anything, and even with his eyes seeming dead, to the masked man it felt like they were shooting daggers at him.

"My my, and I thought the 4th Mizukage was hard to control." The Masked Man joked, the Raikage still unmoving as his new visitor made his way towards the wall, "But don't struggle to hard, the Raikage needs to look pristine, considering you're gonna be leading this invasion personally, right after you take down the other two Kage in stands, in front of all those spectators."

And with that, the Masked Man faded into the walls of the room, leaving no trace of his presence, leaving the Kage by himself, disgusted at how he couldn't do anything to stop his village from how it was about to be used.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Yeah, Gamakichi's Naruto's summon, at first I originally wrote it as his brother being Naruto's summon, but than the story seemed to not flow properly so I changed it, if you guys want I can add it in as some sort of blooper for the next chapter. And Konohamaru's learning the Rasengan! Wanna make his fight with Naruto be interesting, and that technique seems like a pretty good fit, especially since Naruto doesn't know it, yet. And what about that psych-out with the cloud? Bet you all thought the Raikage was gonna be evil huh? Nah I kinda like him so I don't wanna make him a generic, hates/jealous at Minato something, and I plan on doing something with the cloud after, or more specifically, a rapper of the cloud. Hopefully the next chapter will be the last in this mid-training arc. There are things I really want to get to down the line but so man little things keep getting in the way! Until next time later!


	13. Chaining Bonds

Ku was currently walking around the empty room, similar to her cell, but, not. Her cell, despite how large it seemed on one side, felt cramped to her, a bit suffocating if she wanted to be dramatic, but where she was now, it felt, free. Taking a moment to appreciate this feeling, Naruto watched her from a bit away, curiosity on his face as she moved around, noticing the way she seemed so relaxed, her eyes were closed as she let her other senses take over. Still, he had a question.

"How is this possible?" He asked out loud, how was it she was moving around outside her cell, once again.

Stopping her movements Ku turned towards him, hand on her hip while the other one held her chin up, eyes closed as she looked for the words to give as an answer, "I think whoever it was who attack us here, gave us access to new place for the two of us to meet, before it was your mind that came to where my form was being held, but now, its like my mind is traveling too. I can tell my actual form is still inside the cell, but my mind can come here, like some sort of middle ground." She tried to explain, before seemingly trying to concentrate on something and proceeding to snap her fingers.

And to Naruto's surprise, he saw the shallow waters under them began to disappear, before only leaving a couple of puddles on the floor, turning to Ku he saw the smirk that was clearly plastered on her face.

"And I can even affect my surroundings as well." She stated, her smirk turning towards Naruto as she wagged one of her slender fingers at him, "Come here."

Obeying her words the Genin made her way towards the Tailed Beast, only for her to crouch down to get on his level, before placing her hand around his head, her thumb pressing against his forehead.

"Ku?"

"Just relax." She told him, "Just gonna go through your memories and see what I've missed."

But those words made Naruto's face turn red, as there was definitely one thing he didn't want her to see, "Wa-wait!" He tried to warn, but Ku paid it no mind, but she did feel her face heat up a bit from the memory he was talking about.

_'Damn Kushina.'_ She thought, as she took in her former Jinchuriki's latest reward for her current one, shaking her head she scrolled pass, until she finally caught up to his last memory.

Getting up she saw how red Naruto seemed from embarrassment, "Oh calm down, a blowjob doesn't matter much to me, so quit the embarrassment, makes me feel weird." She told him, before some of her older memories came to mind, _'Especially considering some of the kinky shit Mito used to do.'_ She thought about her first Jinchuriki, that women probably brought Hashirama to exhaustion more times than she would think possible.

Placing a hand on her hip the Fox Spirit look at her Jinchuriki with glee, "Welp now that you know I'm good, I'm gonna need you to leave ." She stated.

"Huh?"

Turning away from him Ku just stretched her arms to the side, "I got to redecorate this place! And I'd rather not have a spectator." She explained before turning her head back to him, "So good luck with your training, and if you need to talk don't mind calling, cause I am in a remarkably happy mood."

And with a snap, Naruto was whisked away, not even getting to say goodbye, but Ku already knew he would if he had the chance, and that was enough as she was left alone to decorate this new space.

"Now what should I make first?"

* * *

Naruto groggily opened his eyes, only to immediately close them in irritation as the sun's harsh rays came into his view. Bringing an arm up to shield his sight from the bright rays Naruto sat up, looking around he saw he was still in the camp.

"Finally awake, huh?"

Turning towards the voice, Naruto saw Jiraiya sitting against a tree a foot away, his head pointed towards the ground so that the Genin couldn't see his face, yet it felt like he was still somehow staring at the boy.

"Have you been?" Naruto began to ask, only for the Sage to cut him off.

"I watched you all night to make sure your seal is back to normal, and luckily it is," Jiraiya explained, lifting his head up Naruto couldn't help but flinch. The bags he had under his eyes seemed as bad as that one time his Dad stayed at the office for 3 whole days.

"What're you looking at?" Jiraiya shot, irritation in his voice.

"No-nothing!" Naruto quickly assured.

Placing a hand on the ground Jiraiya tried to push himself up as he said, "Good, so pack up, cause its time for us to-"

The Sannin wasn't able to finish his sentence, as he fell face first into the ground.

After noticing he didn't seem to move Naruto got worried and crawled towards him, poking him in the head to get a response.

"Naruto." The Genin heard him say in a muffled tone, his voice being drowned out by the dirt below, even so, the Sannin continued, "I want you to go into my left pocket, and take out a map. On there should be a destination marked by a red circle, your next task is to get us there while I take a nap."

"Huh?" Naruto questioned, not sure if he heard that last part right, but before he could ask the Toad Sage about it, he heard the sound of snoring breakthrough. Sighing Naruto just decided it would probably be best to get started now as he started rummaging through his sensei's pocket for this map.

* * *

"Honey, have you seen my cloak?" Minato asked, mostly dressed and ready to leave.

"It's in the dryer," Kushina explained, hearing Minato give a thank before leaving the room to go get it as she pulled up her form-fitting pants, shimmering her hips a bit and wiggling her butt to get the tight fabric on, before fixing her shirt and putting her vest on, feeling a bit of irritation as she tried to zip it up, only for it to get caught up in her breast.

_'God can it be annoying at times to have a huge rack'_ The Uzumaki complained as she finally zipped her vest, grabbing her headband and tying it on her forehead, she opted to leave her hair free for today, they were just gonna teleport to the Sand, not like she was gonna do any real Ninja duties. Turning to the bed she saw the small bag filled with her and Minato's clothes, and to the side of it was a small drawer next to the bed, one that had a picture of the family celebrating Naruko's Genin graduation, made her smile. Kushina and Minato standing behind while Naruko brought her little brother into a bear hug, too happy to care about the embarrassed look Naruto gave.

_'They've both grown so much.'_ The women thought as she picked up the picture, smiling brightly before placing it back down, until she remembered a promise she made to Naruto.

And she could do that promise now as Minato returned to the room, his Hokage Cloak on his form before looking at his Wife and asking, "You ready to go?"

Smiling the Women sat down on the bed, "Actually Minato there's something I need to ask you first."

"What is it?" The Hokage asked, sitting down on the bed as well, curious as to what his wife would ask, especially with the shakiness her face seemed to get.

THe woman gave a shaky smile as she did her best to look in his direction, eyes scrunched close, "Well, you see, Naruto, well, he asked me if it would be possible to move out?" The Red hair stated a bit sheepishly, but the sight of her Husband's confused reaction made her laugh a bit inside and ease up.

"Move out?" He repeated, only to see her nod in confirmation, "Did he explain why?"

Outstretching her arms and hands behind her on the bed the women leaned back, "He said he wanted to try and live on his own merits, I'll admit I was surprised, and I'm still kinda processing it, but I did tell him I'd talk to you about it."

"I see, well that's certainly a surprise, I never would've expected Naruto to ask for something like this, guess despite him being our kid we can only know so much." The Namikaze commented, seeing Kushina nod in agreement as well.

"Yep, though I won't lie, if he does leave I feel like that'll affect me more than him, him becoming a Chunin is one thing, leaving the house as well, I don't know if my heart can handle this much joy and sorrow at him growing up." Kushina lamented, giving a mock stifle to express her emotions as a Mother, "Next thing I know I'll probably start to somewhat look my age," She joked, causing her Husband to chuckle.

"And you'll still look as beautiful as the day I met you," He commented, causing the Women to give a light blush at the compliment, "I think I can arrange to get him an apartment somewhere, though maybe you can be the one to actually choose, who knows how much you'll try to visit him."

"You've got a point," Kushina replied, if Naruto did move out, well then she knew as a Mother she'd always go and check up on him, maybe spend the night once every now and then, just to be safe, "Well we should probably get going now, huh?"

Getting up Minato grabbed a hold of the luggage, before outstretching his other hand to his wife, who smiled as she grabbed it as well., before the two disappeared from their home.

* * *

"So your dad is the Chief Toad?"

"Yep?"

"And you guys live at a place called Mount Myōboku?"

"Yep, all toads that are summoned live there!"

"I see." Naruto said, before turning to his summon and asking, "So does each summoning animal have there own land?"

"Kinda" Gamakichi replied, making sure to keep Jiraiya secured on his back as the two walked down the road they were traveling, "Must summon animals have their own land were some sort of chief rules, Human weren't the only one given chakra, but than again, what we use is a little different."

"Different how?" Naruto inquired.

"Well its something called Nature Energy, most summonings use it to some form, but the ones who can access it the best are the Toads and the Snakes. Humans through, let's just say you guys need some pretty hardcore training to learn it, lest you want to turn to stone as the animal you're learning it from." The toad tried to explain.

"Stone?"

"Yep, Nature energy is something that your body doesn't take in naturally, so when humans try to add it in, they need to be extra careful, and just so you know not even your sister has mastered this yet, so don't even think of trying to learn it at your level." Gamakichi advised before asking, "So how much longer until we get to this place?"

Pulling out the map he had Naruto looked over the landmarks they've already passed, "Probably not long, in fact, it looks like we just gotta cross some bridge." Naruto stated as he looked up, hey there it is!"

Pointing at the structure the boy and Toad saw two the head of a large structure over the forest, the tops of multiple pillars supporting it, and with the sound of waves, they could tell that was it. Walking over to the structure the two found themselves at the coast, a couple of buildings dotting along the side, while the entrance to this impressive looking Bridge that was in the middle of all these structures, but something caught both their eyes, the name of the bridge.

"The Great Naruko Bridge?" Gamakichi said out loud, not sure if he was reading the massive sign correctly.

Meanwhile, Naruto was a bit stun, "Neechan never told me about this." He spoke, before shaking his head, "Come on, let's head to the other side, might take a while to actually cross this dang thing."

"Sure, sure."

The began their crossing across the bridge, passing by the occasional sightseeing or resident now and then, a good number eyeing the two in curiosity. The only sounds being the water crashing against the bridge, the swooshing of the wind, and the squeals of the bird, along with the occasional groan from Jiraiya.

But as the two were walking, a splash was heard as they look to the side, only to see a fish that had managed to jump as high as the structure itself, Naruto would've been awed by the feat, but was overtaken by surprise when he saw Gamakichi's tongue spew out, the long appendage whipping off to the side and wrapping around the fish before pulling it into the mouth of the toad, and audible swallow being heard.

"What?" The Toad asked as he saw Naruto eye him a bit in shock.

"Nothing," Naruto replied as the two continued their walk into town, finally making it to the village that stood on the other side, but as they walked around looking for a place to stay, Naruto realized something very, very important.

Checking his pockets Naruto greeted could feel what he was looking for as he opted to than check his bag, only to continue to look disappointing, "Shoot I forgot my Wallet in the Village! I didn't think I'd need it for the exam!" Naruto stated.

"So no Inn?" Gamakichi asked.

Naruto shook his head, "Unless Uncle Jiraiya got some coins stashed in one of those pockets of him we're gonna have to find somewhere public to rest."

"Than maybe I could help with that, I'm sure I've got some money to spare." A voice said to them.

Looking behind Naruto found the source of the voice.

"Kakashi onii-chan!"

The silver-hair man gave a bright look to the two, "Yo!"

* * *

After Genin and Jonin caught up the two went to a nearby park to catch up, Jiraiya still asleep on Gamakichi, who was currently opting to lay down and rest.

"So, Kakashi-Nii, do you think you can explain _"The Great Naruko Bridge"_? Cause I don't think Neechan ever mentioned it to me before." Naruto asked

Raising his eyebrow up at the question Kakashi leaned back as he eyed the structure from afar, "Oh that, yeah it was during Team 7's first mission, we had to protect the bridge architect, let's just say things went down, and in the end he decided to name it after her, though considering all of Team 7 protected him, I still feel like he was being a bit unfair to the rest of us. Though I can't talk to him about it as he's out of town currently." Kakashi explained, turning to look at Gamakichi, "So I'm guessing you summoned this Toad, Naruto?"

"Oh yeah, how'd you know?" Naruto wondered

Resting his arms on the side of the bench Kakashi explained his guess, "Cause I've seen Naruto summon the same one a couple of times, congrats on learning the technique too, so I'm guessing you're participating in the Chunin Exams?"

Naruto's face was given a look of pride as he answered "Yep! Been training for the tournament coming up! When I'm done I'll blow away the whole competition!"

"I see," Kakashi replied, "Well then, wanna have a spar?" Kakashi challenged, narrowing his eye in an attempt to spur the kid to his challenge as he wanted to see how Naruto had progressed, plus he was a bit board so this would give him something to do.

And Naruto accepted with enthusiasm, "Of course! Heck yeah!"

"Well then let's start, this park looks mostly deserted so we should have some room, though don't get too crazy," Kakashi advised as he got up.

"Yeah!" Naruto replied as he jumped up, "Come on Gamakichi! This will be some perfect training!"

"Sure, whatever." The somewhat tired Toad moaned, walking over to the beach and leaning over so that Jiraiya would rest on top, still somehow asleep. Making his way over to Naruto the two went on one side of the clearing while Kakashi took the opposite side, his body much more relaxed and calm, contracting Naruto's hyperactive stance.

"All right let's begin!" Kakashi shouted, opting to stand in place as to see what the boy and Toad could do.

"Gamakichi, oil!"

"Got it" The Toad acknowledged before puffing his check as the substance enter his mouth and then releasing it in a gushing stream that headed straight to the Jonin.

_'Letting the summon do the range attacking, huh?'_ Kakashi thought, waiting for the oil to almost reach him before bending his knees, before disappearing with * _swoosh_ *.

"Where'd he go!?" Gamakich shouted, Naruto looking equally surprised as the two whipped their heads around, going back to back but leaving a bit of space in between them, which Kakashi exploited.

"If you're gonna do back to back make sure to check the center as well, or else you'll leave a blind spot." He said in a somewhat disappointing tone, appearing in between them, hands in his pockets.

But Naruto only smirked as he immediately spun around, attempting to elbow the man with the momentum he was carrying, however Kakashi simply stopped and grabbed it with the back of his hand. But Naruto didn't slow down, using his other hand Naruto grabbed Kakashi's arm with as much of a grip as he could as he revealed his smirk to the Jonin.

"Gamakichi, kick!"

Kakashi couldn't help but feel his eyes widen a bit, turning his head he saw the Toad lean to his front, his arms planting their hands on the ground before he lifted his back legs up. Kakashi seeing the kick coming tried to jump away, but Naruto used his grip on the former's arm to angle the momentum of the jump so that it didn't completely get out of the range of the kick before letting go. Causing Kakashi to bend his knees and flatten his feet together as one of Gamakichi feet cannoned out towards him, platting his feet flat on the underside of the foot his bent stance allowed Kakashi to turn most of the foot's power into his jump.

And that jump went much higher than the Jonin expected, shooting him well above the nearby trees and into the sky. As gravity began to start taking him down he could see Naruto and Gamakichi run to where it seemed he was gonna land.

"Gamakichi, use your tongue to whip me at him." Naruto commanded while outstretching his arm at the Toad.

"Sure thing," Gamakichi replied before shooting his tongue at Naruto's arm, stopping and plating his feet down before whipping his head to the side as the momentum transferred into his tongue, bringing Naruto off the ground and into an arc, Kakashi in his pathway as the Genin outstretched his leg for a very powerful kick.

_'Alright, I've seen enough.'_ Kakashi thought to himself, the spar may have been less than minute, but he now had a pretty good gauge of the Genin's strength, that and he didn't feel in the mood to get a bruise today. Quickly taking out a shuriken the Jonin readjusted his headband, opening his left-eye and closing as he analyzed Nauto's path for a moment before closing the eye once again. Throwing the shuriken at the Genin path Kakashi didn't look to harm Naruto, no, instead the man simply moved his finger up and down, revealing a wire attached to the shuriken that had a wave travel down its path, causing to to wrap around Naruto's leg. Using this new advantage, Kakashi pulled himself towards the boy, interrupting the momentum of his kick and allowing Kakashi to dodge it gracefully in midair, releasing the wire from his hand and letting Naruto continue on his course at the same breakneck speed as before.

Naruto was surprised, he had thought the speed at which Gamakichi threw him at would be enough to catch Kakashi off guard, but the Jonin moved so fast that the whole scene felt like it was in slow-motion for him, except he was the only one affected. And now that the scene was over Naruto came back to a speed he couldn't control, he had hoped the kick to Kakashi would've slowed him down, but now there was nothing to do that.

_'Shoot, can't hold on!'_ Gamakichi realized, the grip he had on the boy slipping from the speed at which he was moving, and Naruto felt it as the tongue he had on his arm slipped, causing an interruption in the boy's momentum that made Gamakichi lose even more control until Naruto's arm was no longer in his grasp.

"AHHHH" The boy screamed as the only thing that could stop him now was the first thing he would land against, and at the speed he was going, it was gonna hurt.

_'Uh-oh'_ Kakashi lamented, thinking he maybe should've just dealt with the hit and taken the boy down after, especially consider Naruto was now flying straight towards the bench, the bench were Jiraiya was resting, who now seemed to be waking up

"Ugh, where am I?" The Sannin groaned as he sat up, rubbing his forehead as he was about to look at his surroundings, only for a voice to make him focus at one spot.

"Uncle Jiraiya get out of the way!" Naruto tried to warn, the distance between the two closing fast.

"Huh?" Turning towards his side the confused look on the man's face was replaced with one of terror, freezing him in place before a loud crash was heard, along with two very painful screams.

"Yikes." Gamakichi commented as Kakashi walked up next to the Toad, who seemed to sweatdrop a bit before saying "I think I'm gonna go now."

And with that the Toad left in a puff of smoke, leaving the Jonin with an unconscious Old Sage, and Young Genin, making the man sigh as he walked up to them, before deciding to just make his way to a nearby tree and sit down, pulling out a book written by one of the unconscious forms a few feet away.

_'They'll be out for at least a few hours, I'll move them later.'_

* * *

"Ugh, how hard is your head Uncle Jiraiya?"

"How hard is mine? I practical feels like mush after you hit!"

Genin and Sannin were currently getting up, the moon rising up and beginning the night, both nursing the very painful bumps on their heads from the crash. Naruto could tell the three weren't at the park they were before, no now the trio were in a forest, a clearing right in front of them.

"I'm honestly surprised neither of you didn't bleed, Naruto was moving pretty fast," Kakashi commented as he continued to read his book.

"Yet you were somehow able to dodge it like it was nothing." Naruto pointed out with a grumble.

"Hey, speeds kinda my thing, I don't have your ridiculous chakra reserves, so I've learned how to finish my fights quickly and efficiently." Kakashi explained, "But don't act so down, those combo attacks were pretty clever," The White hair man praised.

Naruto couldn't help but perk up at the praise, "Really?", to which Kakashi only nodded.

"Well, at least it seems like I'm getting stronger," Naruto said with relief, Kakashi wasn't the type to lie just to make him feel better when he knew the boy could do better, so he trusted his words, but than a question came into his mind.

"Hey, Kakashi-Nii, where's Sasuke?" The boy asked, making the Sannin also pay attention, not thinking about the Uchiha until his absence was pointed out.

Closing his book Kakashi turned to look at the boy, "Oh, Sasuke doing some scouting, he'll be back tomorrow." He answered as a he gave a look at the now setting sun before suggesting, "Now I think it's getting late, how about we head into town for some food."

* * *

Inside a restaurant Naruto was currently inside of a restaurant, eating his plates of delicious, freshly cooked food after having nothing but forest critters for a week. Digging into one of the chicken legs he paid no mind to Jiraiya and Kakashi, who instead of being at the table with him opted to instead have a drink first, the two of them sitting together at the bar a few feet away with no one else near the.

Taking a sip on his sake Jiraiya decided to speak first, "So it looks like you've got something to say," The Sage asked, his tone becoming serious as the two men instantly could tell an exchange of sensitive and import information was about to be had.

"It's Orochimaru." Kakashi replied, causing Jiraiya to narrow his eyes at his drink, his reflection becoming that of his old comrade.

"What is it?" He inquired.

Kakashi tapped his finger against the top of the table, giving a tempo for his thoughts as he answered, "He's playing some kind of long game, for the past two years someone's been leading me and Sasuke to hideout after hideout, letting us gather information that would be added on in the next hideout we were led us to. But recently they finally revealed it was just him and Kabuto who did it."

Sighing the Sannin picked up his drink, "That's concerning." He replied before taking a sip.

"Yeah," Kakashi agreed, "But during those years, we've come across a couple of Orochimaru's subjects, a few more than once, and I think they wanted that."

Jiraiya paused his hand from giving him the drink, "Why do you think that?"

Kakashi reached his hand into his back pouch, "Because of this scroll." He answered as he handed it to the Toad Sage, who swiftly untied and opened it up and read what it had inside.

"How many places have you checked yet?" Jiraiya questioned as he handed the re-closed and tied scroll to the white-hair Jonin.

Taking the scroll and putting it away he answered, "Two, after we're done here we'll head to the last one,"

"And what have you found so far?"

Kakashi took a pause before answering, "Some of Orochimaru's subjects, I'm not sure if we can call them allies, but they don't seem like enemies."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the first one we was the warden in charge of a place called the Southern Hideout, she doesn't seem to hate Orochimaru, but doesn't seem to love him either, like she owes him a debt. She just made sure the prisoners she had are in check, but her info is only limited to stuff we already knew along with that hideout, which is already being investigated. Her abilities are her immensely powerful healing and wide sensory. The other one was the subject of Orochimaru's many tests, so safe to say he doesn't really have any loyalty towards him. But his personality isn't exactly great, he doesn't seem to have much regard to things, and mostly cares about his own goals. But he knows he'll only be free to try and accomplish them if he follows us." Kakashi detailed.

Placing his drink down the Sannin had to ask one more question, "And where are they now?"

"With Sasuke."

* * *

"Sasuke-Kun, how much longer do we have to wait?" A Red-hair woman asked, her form atop of a team while the person she addressed look over a hill, his form not his usual leaf clothing but instead a white kimono-like robe with baggy pants, his leaf headband hidden away. What he was doing wasn't something he wanted to be associated with the Village.

"Until Suigetsu finishes his mission." The Uchiha replied, down below the two saw said man going through a mass of mercenaries, a couple of high-level chunin also in the mix as they did everything in their power to stop the white hair attacker from getting any closer to the tower in the distance, which apparently held a special sword that the White-hair man wished to take.

"You sure he's not gonna accidentally kill anyone?" The woman asked as she saw Suigetsu throw one of the attacks relatively high before he came crashing down on some of his comrades, her head leaning on the side of her head, not particularly interested in the display below her.

But Sasuke didn't seem to be that worried, "I trust him not to, Karin, lest he wants to relinquish the freedom he's been given."

With those words being spoken the two watched as Suigetsu finished dealing with the last couple of mercenaries, almost nothing left to stop him from reaching the tower and claiming his prize.

* * *

"You sure that's a good idea?" Jiraiya asked with concern, if they didn't know what Orochimaru's plan was, then was it wise to leave his two subjects with what the man would want as his new body.

"I trust Sasuke to handle himself, I can't watch over him forever, and this was his idea, he thinks he can help these people, put them off the road Orochimaru put them on," Kakashi explained.

"That's pretty optimistic," The Toad Sage commented, his tone boarding on condescending and respect for the Uchiha.

"Well, maybe so, but still, we all need a little optimism in our lives, even if it's from someone else, or else we old folks would just be buried in dark parts of reality." Kakashi defended.

Jiraiya smirked at the man's response, "Maybe so." He agreed, before deciding to move on to another concern subject he's been meaning to talk about, "Now then, I guess I should update you on what I've learned on my mission."

Kakashi took a pause, his head and eyes faced towards the table but his mind focused on what his ears would be hearing.

"The Jinchuriki's of the 4th and 5th tails have gone missing, along with..." Jiraiya had to take a pause, knowing what that he had to give the man a moment to take in the information he just gave before moving on to the next piece, especially cause of how much it meant to Kakashi personally.

"...the 3 tails." The Sage finished, faintly hearing the sound of a fist clenching, giving a moment to the white-hair Jonin to relax before moving onto the next piece.

"I'm assuming it was the Akatsuki, wasn't it?" Kakashi asked, his tone flat.

"Yes," Jiraiya confirmed, "After they're first attempt on Naruko 4 years ago, they went quiet for 3, and then, they've made a move. But the problem is we still don't know their motive, or their end-goal."

Kakashi sighed from the news, "And what about Naruto?"

"Under my protection," Jiraiya replied, taking look back at the boy to see him eating away at the table before turning back, "I'm not sure if you've been informed yet, but Minato wants to up the security at the Chunin Exams, he knows your busy with this mission of yours, but still, he asked me if I ran into you, that he would appreciate you and Sasuke coming to help with it, something just feels off, that something is gonna happen."

Kakashi picked up his drink swirling it around in his hand for a bit, "Very well, after me and Sasuke finish with the third hideout, we'll go and meet up with you guys at the exams." He informed before taking a swing of the cup.

"Thank you," Jiraiya replied, before seeing the man place the drink down, making him go wide-eyed in realization.

"You already finish your drink!?" He shouted, the had only gotten them a couple of minutes ok, and he himself was only a quarter finished. But his outburst caused the white hair man to turn at him, revealing that he still had on his mask, not a wet spot visible, though somehow a red tinge on his cheeks were.

"What did you say?" Kakashi asked, a bit of a slur in his voice as the alcohol finally started taking effect, causing the Toad Sage to sigh, _'How does he do it?'_

Back with Naruto at the table, the Genin was already mostly finished with his meal, only his noodles left. But even so, his mind somewhat wandered away from the meal that was in front of him.

Instead, they went back to Kakashi's words earlier, _'My Combo attacks were good huh? I thought it was good praise at first, but it was when me and Gamakichi worked together to make that happen, I, myself, still to get stronger.'_ He thought, before going back to his food, determined to think of something after he filled his stomach.

* * *

_'Why isn't she answering!?'_ Naruto thought as he laid in his sleeping, Kakashi and Jiraiya asleep a few feet away, _'Come on come on, just focus on that feeling whenever someone else does it, it's your own mind dammit! Why can everyone seem to get in besides me!'_

Opening his eyes the Genin looked up at the stars, shining brightly along with the moon as they cascaded a row of patterns over the sky. Even with his current frustration, he couldn't help but be a bit calmed at the sight, he thoughts going over the ones he loved, cared about, until they landed on the one he was trying to reach now.

_'I just wanna talk with Ku.'_

And then, his mind went blank.

* * *

Naruto found himself transported, like he had the other times he was brought to this mindscape, but when he looked around, he started to think otherwise. Instead of the dark dimly lit hallways with the shallow waters, he found himself in an open field, mountains all around in the distance, with a forest surrounding him.

"Where am I?"

And then, he heard a loud boom, followed by a gust of wind that came from one side of the forest, it was powerful enough to have Naruto to put a hand up to shield his face. Looking towards the direction of where it came from Naruto saw a larger cloud of dust forming near the base of one of the mountains, before dissipating away.

_'Welp, guess that's as good of a place as any to start.'_ He thought before heading down that way. Walking through the forest Naruto couldn't help but feel he was covering more ground than his pace would've allowed. As if the ground beneath him was moving towards where he was heading as well, while keeping everything else in the same place. And what he would've estimated to be a 10-minute walk out of the forest, took less than 5.

His exit placing him on the base of the mountain he was going towards, some sort of entrance already made as there were neatly made steps that led to a path that seemed to go around the mountain. Following it the Genin saw the grassy path below him start to harden, before being replaced by natural stone, the sides of the path rising up pass his height, creating a set of walls that kept him on the path, the sun shining brightly down making the path still clear to him, but than he noticed a steam starting to appear in front of him, becoming a bit thicker as he kept walking down, until the walls around him open up, his path leading him to a large crater which housed a large looking pool of water at its bottom.

But that wasn't what got his attention, instead it was the figure who stood just outside of the water, her back turned to him, but even so, her long orange hair which was covering almost all of her back and legs immediately revealed her identity to the boy.

"Ku!" He called out, before rushing down to meet her.

"Huh?" Ku gasped, turning to where she heard the voice, only for the boy to stop dead in his tracks, eyes going wide while his face went red. Seeing his reaction Ku immediately went wide-eyed as well. She currently wasn't wearing her kimono, in fact, she wasn't wearing anything, leaving her completely bare. The only saving grace for the Kyuubi being her long hair not only covered her back but the middle of her breasts and groin as well, even so, the skin she was showing had Narut's brain frying from the sight.

After a moment of silence Ku's face turned into one of irritation, her hair wrapping around her body completely, covering it for a moment before unwrapping, her usual kimono back on, but before Naruto could even process that, she disappeared, before reappearing in front of him with a look that terrified him, bringing her palm up Naruto couldn't even try to stop her before a smack was heard that rang through the entire forest.

Naruto stood in silence for a moment, unable to register what actually happened to him, his head turned from the force of the slap, the pain started to settle in.

"OOWWWWW!" He screamed in pain as he held his check, hissing as well from the sting he felt, "What was that for!?"

Ku scoffed at his voice, arms crossed under her bust as she gave him an annoyed look, "You almost caught me in one of my most vulnerable forms, no one, and I mean no one, has ever seen me as you almost did." She growled, anger clear in her voice from the interruption as she turned slightly, "Consider yourself lucky a slap was all you got."

"I don't feel lucky," Naruto grumbled as he rubbed his check, Ku hearing the complaint with her ears as she gave him a menacing glare in response.

"I can throw you into the mountain as well." She threatened, making Naruto straighten up, ignoring the pain in his cheek, but then noticed it seemed to go away faster than he expected, even by his standards.

"Huh, weird, thought that would sting for longer," He commented, rubbing his cheek a bit to test it out, feeling a tiny sting but nowhere as bad as before.

"Probably cause you can't take actual damage here, this combined mindscape of ours," Ku responded, her anger from before fading away as she gave him a less annoyed look.

But Naruto couldn't help but focus on the way she described this place, "Combined?"

"Like I said before this place is sort of like a middle ground between your mind and where my actual sealed form lies, hence why I'm able to walk around freely," She explained before giving out a sight, "But since this is part of your mind as well, I guess that means you have some power to come and go on your own will, so much for my privacy," She grumbled.

But Naruto was ecstatic at the news, "You mean I can come here on my own when I want!?"

Kuy nodded at the question, prompting Naruto to jump up in celebration, "Awesome! Now I can visit you more often!"

"Huh?" Ku was caught off guard by his words, _'He's excited cause he can see me more?'_

"Come on, it'll be great!" Naruto exclaimed, grabbing Ku's hand suddenly and giving her a tooth-filled smile "We can hang out with each other so much better now! And this place is so much nicer than that old lair of yours!" He stated, Ku having half-a-mind to tell him she didn't really have a choice in choosing that old lair, but didn't have time to express it as a thought hit Naruto him about this place.

"How did this place appear?" He asked Ku, curiosity clearly on his face, the fox-spirit barely keeping up with the Genin excitement, the question giving her a moment to pause it.

"Oh, well, I made it." She stated, making Naruto go wide-eyed.

"You made all this?"

"Mmhm," She hummed, a proud smirk coming on her face from his amazed look, "Turns out I can physically alter this place to fit what I imagine, based it off where I used to live when I was free!"

Naruto nodded in understanding, noticing the how proud Ku seemed to be of the creation as she listed off all the landmarks visible to them, before landing on the pool of water she was standing near when he found her.

"And this is a hot-springs, I was just about to take a dip too, until you interrupted me." She stated, hand on her hip as her proud tone faded away, annoyance replacing it while she gave him a menacing stare for a bit, making Naruto sweat-drop.

"So-sorry about that." He apologized, Ku eyeing him for a bit longer to make sure he wasn't half-assing the apology, before deciding he was being sincere. Than an idea popped into her mind that made her tail wag a bit and her furry pointy ears to perk up, before giving a sigh.

Gripping Naruto's hand she led the boy to the edge of the crater, before sitting down and bringing Naruto with her, having both of them dangle their feet over the edge, confusing the Genin as she opened the bottom of her kimono up, exposing her long, graceful, fair skin legs up to their knees as she pulled the fabric up.

"Take off your sandals and pull up the bottom of your pants," She instructed, giving him a blank look.

Following the order Naruto quickly removed his footwear, placing them to his side before rolling the bottom of his pants as well, exposing his legs up to his knees. Looking at Ku he was a bit confused as to why she asked him to do that before she snapped her fingers and a gush of water was heard. Turning to the source Naruto saw the water level rising up, filling the crater their legs were dangling over before they reached them, enveloping Naruto's legs and feet in a soothing warm presence.

"Nice, huh?" Ku asked, a smirk on her face as she noticed the way his face seemed to relax from the feeling.

"Yeah, feels almost like the hot springs back at my house," Naruto commented, moving his feet as he watched them travel in the mostly clear water, a light trail in the water following the movements.

Smiling at his response Ku leaned back on her arms and relaxed, savoring the moment, while she might've wanted to take a full bath in the springs, a dip with her toes wasn't so bad either, and the aura Naruto was giving off made her feel a bit at peace before turning him, "So, I can tell you've got something on your mind, what is it?" She bluntly questioned.

"You really know how to get down to what I'm thinking, huh?" Naruto joked back, the relaxation the water gave him making him not minding her blunt question.

"Well considering watching the world through your eyes was one of my few available past-times, I notice some of your patterns," She explained.

Seeing no point in beating around the bush Naruto decided to just speak what was on his mind, "I wanna get stronger, with my own power," He started, making the Tailed Beast look at him with more focused, ready to take in for the explanation he was about to give.

"Whenever I'm up against really strong opponents I seem to always have to rely on you or some outside help, and even though the Summoning Jutsu is neat, it's more just giving me a partner, I want something unique for me, like my shadow clones." He spoke, making Ku raise an eyebrow from his reasoning before he turned to her and gave a slightly embarrassed smile, "And since you said you've watched me for a while, I was wondering if you could maybe give some advice before the tournament starts?"

Ku's face went into one of thought as she took in his question, thinking up of a number of potential ways to help him before she spoke one thought that came to mind.

"Why not use your chakra chains?" She suggested, getting the boy's attention as he looked at her with confusion.

"Chakra Chains?" He repeated, making Ku look at him with a bit of confusion, before a sense of realization hit her.

"Oh right, you don't know about them!" She exclaimed before looking back down at him, "You remember that fight with that intruder?"

Naruto nodded in confirmation, how could he forget, well he kinda did, the memories were a bit fuzzy, but he remembered the gist of the encounter.

"Well, near the end you were able to use something called Adamantine Sealing Chains, special bonds made of charka that are only available to the Uzumaki Bloodline. And you were able to unleash one powerful enough to stop the intruder and give us a chance to send him away," Ku explained., noticing the look of awe and realization coming onto Naruto's face as he started to remember the memory of the battle.

"Yeah, they were large and gold, right?" Naruto asked, Ku nodding in confirmation, before seeing Naruto ponder the ability for moment, before a sense of frustration came on, "But they were also big and hard to use, even if its not clear I can remember how out of it I felt when that thing appeared, if there was some way I could manipulate it better than maybe that would be a good place to start." He muttered.

Ku hearing his complaints, took a moment to ponder it, _'Not like I have anything else to do, might be a good experience for both of us.'_

Taking moment to steel herself the Fox Spirit turned her head away, not feeling as though she could say her words while facing the boy, but Naruto only heard a grumble.

"Huh, what was that Ku?" He asked, missing what she actually said, hearing the Girl huffing in irritation.

"I said I'll train you, all right?" She clarified, even if she wasn't facing him Ku could practically feel the happiness shining from him due to her words.

"Really!?" He questioned, not wanting the words to be a lie, seeing the girl nodding in confirmation,

"The time we spend in this place is somewhat different from the time outside, I can make it so that you'll learn how to properly summon the chains in time for tomorrow, well, I think I can." She explained, before hearing Naruto bringing her feet out of the water and jumping up in celebration.

"Alright, this is gonna rock!" Naruto exclaimed, his excitement levels off the chart as he felt a rush of energy, and Ku couldn't help but smile from his enthusiasm.

_'Well he's gonna need it, this training is gonna take a lot out of him, even if its in this mindscape.'_ Ku thought, before turning away and gripping her chest, feeling her heartbeat a little faster in excitement as well, and Ku could only smirk and laughed at herself for the feelings she was experiencing, that boy really was changing her, in ways she never expected.

* * *

Naruto couldn't help but give a groan as he opened his eyes, the light blinding him for a bit before he was able to raise a hand to block it out, giving his eyes a moment to adjust before he sat up. Raising his arms up Naruto gave his arms a good stretch, before moving out of his sleeping bag and warming up the rest of his body.

_'Weird, my body feels completely well rested, but my mind feels tired, probably from the training with Ku.'_ Naruto through hearing one of his bone pop from his stretch, before suddenly energy started to fill his mind as he remembered he needed to try something out.

"Well look who's up." A voice commented.

Turning quickly to the source Naruto saw Kakashi and Jiraiya sitting down by a nearby tree, cards in their hands as they seemed to be in the middle of a game.

"Morning you two! I just need to try something really amazing!" Naruto called out to them, quickly putting on some nearby sandals the Genin opted to keep his night clothes on as he rushed over into the nearby clearing, facing one of the trees a few feet away as a target for his experiment.

Closing his eyes Naruto tried to focus, his arms and legs becoming still, his breathing deep, a light gust of wind blown away from the bottom of his feet. This focus of chakra was enough to get Jiraiya and Kakashi curious as to what the boy was about to do, pausing their games to look at him with a serious look, becoming extra curious when they saw the light glow come from his stomach as Naruto's body was engulfed in a blue flame of chakra. Just then Naruto opened his eyes, pupils dead set on the tree in front of him as he brought his hands together and created a tiger seal.

"AHHHH!" Naruto shouted, the bottom of the front side of his shirt lifting up, a golden glow emitting from his stomach before a golden chain, about twice as thick as Naruto's wrist shot out, quickly wrapping itself around the tree in a tight grip, the sound of metal clinking against one another and wood cracking being heard.

"Yes!" Naruto exclaimed, raising his hands to the sky as he saw the training he did with Ku in his mindscape pay off, not noticing the shocked looked Jiraiya and Kakashi seemed to have, the former dropping his cards slightly, not noticing the latter taking advantage of that.

But Naruto's celebration was short-lived, as a screeching, painful voice rang in his head, ' _ **YOU IDIOT! YOU CAN'T USE IT AT THAT MUCH POWER YET!'**_ Ku berated, causing Naruto to pause, his chain slacking a bit before he noticed that they seemed to be glowing brighter than at first.

But before the boy could question it, Naruto felt his strength fail him as his eyes fell, his knees buckling under his weight as he collapsed, the chains he produced dissipating in a flash of light, the genin passing out.

"Was that?" Kakashi started, too shocked to go and check on the boy at first.

Jiraiya, similarly stayed in his place as well, "He's gonna have to answer a load of questions when he wakes up." Jiraiya replied, the two still trying to process what they saw.

* * *

Sasuke and his two companions were beginning to walk across The Great Naruko Bridge, his white-hair companion looking extra happy with the new large sword on his back, a large grin on his face, but it was his red-hair companion that caught his focus.

"Karin, something wrong?" The Uchiha asked, noticed the girl standing still, as though she was deep in thought.

But that thought was broken when she heard his voice, "Oh, no, nothing, just thought I felt something strange." She admitted, a small smile on her face in an attempt to ease his worries.

But they didn't seem to work on Sasuke, even so, he decided to leave her alone for now, "Alright then," He said before the three continued their walk into town, but Karin kept a slower pace, putting her a few feet in the back as she tried to organize her thoughts.

_'What was that chakra I just sensed right now? It felt, familiar.'_ The Red-hair thought as they continued back to town.

* * *

When Naruto opened his eyes again, the first thing he noticed was the position of the sun, gone from its place almost directly above him, now it sat a bit over the horizon, signaling only a few hours for the light to shine over the day.

_'Wasn't it just before noon when I woke up, what happened'_ Naruto questioned to himself as he sat up, before feeling the sore spot on his stomach, _'Oh right,'_ Naruto realized as he remembered what happened.

_'God Ku is gonna give me an earful.'_ Naruto thought.

Speaking of the fox, the next words Naruto heard came from her, **_'Your damn right I'm gonna give you an earful!'_**

Naruto could only mentally prepare himself for the rant she was about to give him, his face scrunching up as a look of guilt cam over it, but as Ku continued her rant, a silver hair and white-hair man walked over to him, each giving him a questioning look.

"So Naruto, you mind explaining to us what you did?" Jiraiya started, if what he and Kakashi saw was what they thought it was, then they needed to know.

But Naruto didn't answer the question at first, instead he was holding his head with both hands, "Ok ok Ku, just let me talk to them for a minute!" He muttered to himself, a moment of silence passing before he shouted, "It's not that I don't wanna talk to you it's just that they asked me a question!"

Jiraiya and Kakashi each gave each other questioning looks, both curious as to who this _"Ku"_ was, until Naruto just gave a sigh, before turning back to the two Sensei and giving them an apologetic look.

"Sorry about that, Ku's just berating me for how I used that technique," He told them.

_**'NARUTO NAMIKAZE UZUMAKI DON'T YOU IGNORE ME!'**_ Ku shouted at the boy, only for him not to respond as he looked up at the two men.

Deciding to ask one of the obvious questions first Kakashi stepped in front, "Uh Naruto, who is Ku?"

Naruto was confused by the question at first, before realizing nobody else knew who the nickname was referring to besides him, looking back up at the man he gave a bright smile and explained, "Uh, Ku is the name the Kyuubi lets me refer to her as! It's a sign that we're becoming closer to being friends"

The two men were a bit awestruck at the news.

"Huh," Jiraiya responded as those were the only words that came to him, before remembering there was another question they needed to ask, "By the way Naruto, what and how did you use those chains from earlier?"

Turning to the Sage Naruto proceed to answer the question, "Oh, well I was talking with Ku last night, and I found out those chains are something I can apparently kinda summon." Naruto started, before an embarrassed look came on his face as he started to rub the back of his head, "Though even so, the one I used earlier wasn't even at half of its full power, and even than it caused me to pass out from how much it took." Naruto explained, getting that information from Ku during her rant.

To say Jiraiya and Kakashi were impressed was an understatement, not only did Naruto have a stable connection with the Nine-tails, he apparently was now learning how to use the Uzumaki's special sealing chains as well, though it looked like it would take a long time before he will be able to use the latter one to its full extent.

But that didn't seem to stop Naruto as the yellow-hair genin started to stretch his muscles, heading to his bag to put on his day clothes, "Well, the only way to find a way to use them will be to train!" Naruto stated out loud, patting his body after he finished putting on his jumpsuit, "Now how will I start that training?" Naruto question, both to himself and to the two men, hoping someone would have an answer as it seemed Ku wasn't talking to him for now.

_'Maybe I shouldn't have ignored her?'_ Naruto thought with a guilty look on his face before a voice rang through the air.

"You know I think the best training comes from a real fight, one that forces you to push yourself and think outside the box otherwise you lose."

Looking up into the tree behind him Naruto saw man with straight white hair with a light blue tinge on the edges, almond-shaped purple eyes, wearing a sleeveless purple shirt, a belt around his waist to hold up his bluish grey pants, two compartments on his belt, one of which was occupied by a bottle, while he held another one to his mouth and taking a sip. But what was most striking to Naruto was the large sword he had on his back

"Hey there." The man greeted, his pointed teeth showing, and Naruto couldn't help but fill a sort of chilling aura emanating from the man.

But Kakashi didn't seem frightened by this man's appearance, "Welcome back Suigetsu, I take it your mission was a success, what with that sword on your back and all." He spoke to him, the sight of the sword bringing back old memories to the Jonin.

Suigetsu gave the white hair man a toothy grin, "Yep, had to take on a whole army of mercenaries to get it," Suigetsu stated, noticing the questioning look Kakashi, "Don't worry I didn't kill anyone, Sasuke wouldn't let me." He assured, the look Kakashi gave fading from the response, while Jiraiya still looked questioningly at the man.

But Naruto was confused, he had no idea who this person was, or why it seemed that Sasuke and Kakashi seemed to know him, or the fact he was able to take on an army by himself apparently.

But Jiraiya decided to speak to the man first as he stepped forward, "Well then Suigetsu, do you mind telling us where is Sasuke than?"

But Suigetsu gave the man a questioning look, "Who the hell are you?" He asked, his eyes narrowed at the sage, whose forehead scrunched up in annoyance.

Stepping him Kakashi put a hand on the Sannin to calm him down before looking back at Suigetsu with an annoyed look, "Just answer the question, Suigetsu."

Suigetsu looked a bit annoyed at the question, before something caught his eye as he smirked, "Why don't you ask him yourself?" He suggested, pointing a bit above the two men.

Turning around Jiraiya and Kakashi saw the Uchiha walking towards them, a red-head trailing closely behind. Walking up Sasuke appeared to have an annoyed look, not focusing on the new company present as he looked over at Suigetsu, "Don't keep going ahead of us," The Uchiha berated him.

"Oh come on, you guys are just too slow," The White hair young man called back. But Sasuke didn't respond, instead turning towards one of the new faces.

"Master Jiraiya, it's a pleasure to see you again." The Uchiha stated before bowing to the Sage, who only held a hand up to signal him to stop.

"Same to you," Jiraiya responded, glancing at the red-head for a moment before facing back at Sasuke, "I've heard you and Kakashi have been busy, even so, I can only hope for success in your mission,"

"Thank you," The Uchiha finished, before looking back at the still confused Genin who was looking at him with a confused look.

"Hey there Naruto, how have you been?" He greeted as he began walking over to the boy.

"Sasuke Nii-san!" the boy exclaimed, happy to see a familiar face again, the Uchiha smiling at the boy as he ruffled his hair.

"I heard you're participating in the finals of the Chunin Exam, your family must be proud," Sasuke stated, Naruto giving a look of wonder at him.

"Yep! I'm out here training with Uncle Jiraiya for the meantime, in fact, I'm about to try and work on a new technique for it!" Naruto shouted in excitement.

"Oh really? Then how about you show me this technique of yours?" Sasuke asked in curiosity.

Naruto had a look of excitement, before one of determination replaced it, "Only if you take me on in a battle!" Naruto declared.

A smirk came on Sasuke face, ready to accept the challenge from his best friend's little brother, but before he could respond someone else cut in.

"Now wait a minute Sasuke, how about you let me take a swing at this first?" Suigetsu suggested, jumping down from his perch atop of the branch, before turning to the Genin and giving him an intimidating smile, "This guy's almost got the same name as the one on the bridge, and from those stories you tell us of your old teammates, I'm assuming this is that little Brother you mentioned one of them has."

Sasuke gave the Swordsman a questioning look, "And what is it to you?"

Suigetsu gave him a smirk as he grabbed the hilt of his blade, before swinging it in a frontal slash at the boy, stopping just a bit in front of his face as Naruto had a terrified look on his face, for a second he felt that aura, that aura to kill, "I wanna see what his made of," Suigetsu admitted.

Sasuke gave a sigh at the White-hair man, "Fine, as long as you don't go overboard," He warned, Suigetsu gaining a look of satisfaction from the approval before turning to Naruto who was still a bit shocked at the words the man gave about him, and from the sword just a few inches from his face, "So how about it kid, wanna show me how you're gonna become the future _Hokage_?" Suigetsu challenged, a mocking undertone on the Hokage bit just to rile the boy up, it apparently meant something to the boy from what he's heard.

And it did as Naruto clenched his fist, narrowing his eyes at the man, "You're on!"

And so the two stared each other down, ready for a fight.


	14. Finishing Touches

Naruto and Suigetsu were on opposite sides of the clearing, the former's stance in a typically fighting position as he held his hands up while he kept his knees slightly bent in case he needed to move quickly, while the latter stood tall and relaxed, looking at the boy with mocking grin while he returned one of ferocity, or tried to. Suigetsu smirk to himself, even before the battle he could tell the genin was slightly unnerved by him, and if he couldn't deal with it during the battle than this was gonna be quick.

Off to the side, the others were staring on with curiosity and anticipation, each wondering how the Genin would hold his own against the white-hair swordsman. But Karin herself was also preoccupied with other thoughts, as she saw the symbol present on the back of Naruto's jumpsuit.

But before she could linger on those thoughts any longer she felt Naruto's chakra surge, signaling the start of the battle as he quickly reached into his back pouch, the sound of metal clanging against each other being heard before he threw a fist full of shuriken in both his hands at his opponent with high speeds and force.

Suigetsu only smirked at the attack, as with one quick jump he was above the spinning blades, keeping his gaze on the blonde as he heard the whizzing of the shurikens fly under him. But Naruto didn't let that slow him down he already held two kunai in his hands, shooting them at Suigetsu with as much precision as he could.

Suigetsu responded by grabbing his blade with a hand, Naruto noticing his previous slim arm expanding exponentially to a muscular form, veins clearly visible on the skin as with a single motion, he took out his blade and swung it at the incoming projectiles, a gust of wind blowing throw the air that sent the kunai off curse while Naruto could feel its power from his position. Even so, he didn't look down even as the kunai started to plummet down, cause the attachments he had on were ready to go.

Two loud booms shook the area as the paper bombs that were carried by the kunai detonated, blocking the two opponents from each other's view. Suigetsu smirking in delight as he felt the force of the explosion blow past him, keeping him up in the air for a bit longer.

_'Looks like this kid not gonna pull any punches, good, this wouldn't be any fun if he held back.'_ Suigetsu thought to himself as the blast smoke blocked his forward vision until he heard a loud whizzing sound get closer. And before he knew it a Demon Wind Shuriken appeared through the smoke, cutting the air around it as it headed straight for him. Gripping his blade once more the swordsmen gave another swing, at the spinning projectile before it could reach him, its force stopping the projectile a couple of meters away. Only for the giant shuriken to transform in a puff of white smoke, revealing his blonde opponent, smirking at him before throwing several shurikens at him as well.

Suigetsu was a bit surprised at the appearance, transformation or not if he had sliced into the shuriken he would've cut through the boy as well, even so, he felt a bit irritated from the repeated attack, "If it didn't work the first time, why do you think it'll work a second!?" He mocked while swinging his sword once more to block the projectiles, not seeing the smirk on Naruto's face widening.

"Maybe because it's not the same as before." He stated, revealing his open hands, and the wires that were wrapped around his fingers, as with a quick motion, some of the shurikens dodged Suigetsu's strike as the curved around his body. But they weren't the only ones, as Suigetsu heard multiple whizzing sounds below. Turning his head downwards the swordsmen saw a multitude of wired shuriken heading towards him, before wrapping themselves around his body, restricting his movement as his large blade was forced to his side.

"Pull!" Naruto shouted, and just like that, Suigetsu felt the wires, along with gravity, shoot him down fast towards the ground and past the smoke, revealing multiple Naruto as they waited for him to land, the one in the air being pulled down with him but was higher.

_'Clones huh? Neat.'_ Suigetsu commented in his mind, despite the circumstance, he didn't feel any fear as the ground came closer to view. And when he was near enough for the clones, they all threw a punch simultaneously at him, with the Naruto above him giving a gravity enhanced punch right to his head.

To the sidelines the others of the group watched with an impressed gaze, the combo Naruto had just landed was impressive and clever, however, they all saw that with Suigetsu, that type of technique didn't work.

"What the?" Naruto gasped, as instead of his attacks hitting flesh, the sound of water splashing could be heard, with his and his clones' fists being buried inside of Suigetsu's body, the areas of penetration being turned into water while trapping the intruding limbs in place.

' _Water Clone?'_ Naruto thought as he placed his foot on the ground, but when he felt his fist struggle to break free, he realized that wasn't the case, _'No, no, a clone would've dissipated by now, his whole body must be made of water!'_

"So I'm guessing this was why Orochimaru was experimenting on him" Jiraiya commented about Suigetsu's revealed ability as he watched the battle.

"Yep, bodies that can turn into water are his clan's thing, though apparently, it seems he was more gifted than others," Kakashi replied while keeping his eye on the battle as well, noticing the wires that wrapped around Suigetsu starting to slip past his body as water onto the ground.

"Gotta say, kid, that's one hell of a combo," Suigetsu commented as he said eyed Naruto, not minding the fist that was buried in his head, "But I've had worse."

Naruto didn't even get time to reply as he heard the sound of his wires dripping to the ground with some water, Suigetsu's body a bit unproportional as part of his arm and sides were leaking the liquid, but what came to his view was the large butchered shape broadsword that was swung in a circle taking out his clones before cutting into him, his body dissipating in a puff of white smoke as well.

Finishing his swing Suigetsu's body returned to its original shape as he dug his blade to the ground, a look of mild surprise on his face, "So that one was a clone as well," He muttered before taking a look around, not seeing his opponent anywhere in his sight, clicking his teeth he decided to go for a taunt.

"You know I expected you to be more head-on, not hiding away!" He called out loud enough for the boy to hopefully hear.

And hear he did, as Naruto clenched his fist as he kept his position hidden away behind a tree, on one hand, he felt like a coward for letting his clones battle the man first while he hid and observed, on the other hand, he knew it was the smart thing to do. That aura he felt from him before sent a chill down his spine in a way that he knew he couldn't just rush in, he knew there was something different about his opponent. But thanks to his clones sacrifices he now knew what was different, and even though he only had around an eighth of his chakra left, that was more than enough for him to start a counter attack. Biting his thumb he made the familiar seals he's been practicing for the last couple of days, before slamming his hand down and shouting out his next move.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Sasuke immediately narrowed his eyes at the source of the sound, seeing past the smoke, seeing Naruto say something quickly to the figure who appeared. Smirking to himself, he couldn't help but be reminded just how similar Naruto and his sister were.

Suigetsu meanwhile smirk, _'A summoning huh? This battle got a bit more interesting.'_

But what happened next surprised him even more.

"Toad Oil Stream!" A booming voice shouted inside from the smoke, a tightly pack stream of oil shooting straight at him from the smoke.

_'Shit!'_

Leaving his blade in place the swordsman let his body completely transform into its liquidated state as it ducked under and around the oil, Suigetsu hissing inwardly from the feeling of a few oil droplets landing on his current form and causing him to lose some control on its placement.

"Oh no, you don't!" Naruto shouted as he rode atop of the now ending stream of oil as he threw a pair of kunai at the puddle of water, Suigetsu's watery head on top as he gave him an annoyed look.

_'Why bother dodging when it can't even hurt me?'_ _S_ uigetsu told himself as he let the kunai go through his form, only to be surprised as he felt the targeted areas solidify a bit as something else sunk into it, pushing his form closer together.

_'He covered the kunai in oil!'_ Suigetsu realized, surprised by the genin's clever and quick thinking, a bit impressed but also annoyed, oil and water didn't mix, and in his case, it made it harder to move his liquidated body around.

Seeing his assumption looking to be correct Naruto smirked as he jumped off the ending stream of oil, the bottom of his sandals coated in the substance as he positioned himself for a landing kick to the white-hair man's face.

Grunting to himself, Suigetsu quickly reformed his upper half and crossed his arms to the boys kick, stopping him in place as Naruto felt his foot somewhat sink into his opponent's flesh.

"Don't get cocky kid, all you did with that oil was making it harder for me to move my water body as freely, your attacks still can't hurt me." Suigetsu warned, a little pissed off at brat. It was gonna take an hour to make sure he got all the oil out of his body. And the kick Naruto was giving him was only adding more.

"Oh really?" Naruto questioned as he planted his other foot on the ground to help with his now stomp, the oil on his foot making it hard for Suigetsu's arm to get a proper stop on him, and Naruto took advantage of that as he turned around, "Gamakichi, let it rain!"

The Orange toad smirked as he brought his hands together, "You got it!" He replied, his mouth filling with a second batch of the fluid, his cheeks expanding exponentially before he tilted his head upwards and opened his mouth.

Suigetsu took a moment to look at the source of all the small shadows covering the ground, and when saw the batches of oil being shot over the area and falling down towards him, he couldn't help but inwardly groan, but then he heard something whoosh through the air, seeing what he could only describe as a pink colored bumpy looking tongue wrap around Naruto's waist before pulling him away with impressive force, but not before Naruto let something fall from his hand and in front of Suigetsu.

The Swordsmen didn't even need to look at what the object was as he heard a familiar sizzling sound, staring at the Genin with dead eyes, the oil raining down about to cover him as he said, "You little-"

_***BOOM*** _

The explosion engulfed Suigetsu's body and the surrounding area, Naruto barely getting out unscathed as Gamakichi roped him back, unwrapping his tongue from his body and looking towards the smoke, waiting to see the effects of his blast.

_"*Pftt*"_ Karin snickered, holding a hand up to her mouth to keep herself from full-on laughing, she'd forgotten just how much she enjoyed watching the white-hair swordsmen get his ass kick, noticing Sasuke and the others smirk a bit in pride as well. Their superior senses allowing them to see through the smoke and see Suigetsu holding his head down in shame, clearly annoyed and irritated from the attack as he reformed his entire body as the smoke started to clear. But while they all gave Naruto credit for his work so far, they could tell the battle wasn't gonna last much longer, as they felt Suigetsu's aura change, the man was done playing around.

Naruto and Gamakichi saw the last of the smoke clear from the field, revealing Suigetsu standing there, looking a bit off but appeared unscathed, with his head held down. Hand reaching to his side to grab the water-bottle tied to his belt. Bringing it to his head he took in the straw and tried to drink, only to feel nothing coming out. Clicking his teeth in annoyance he unscrewed the cap and held it upside down into his mouth, the only thing coming out being a single droplet of water that landed on his tongue.

Dropping the bottle Naruto felt the world go into slow motion, as while the bottle fell he saw Suigetsu grab his sword, his arm appearing to be keeping the same size as the rest of his body unlike before, the swordsman giving him a dead stare and disappearing. And when the bottle was halfway to the ground he saw him reappear in front of him, his sword already swinging down at him with one hand as Naruto felt his own body start to move in slow motion, not fast enough to escape the incoming blade.

"Oh no, you don't!" Gamakichi interrupted as he swiftly bumped Naruto out of the way before stopping the blade with both his hands clasped on either side of it, struggle to hold the stance as Suigetsu kept up the force in the blade as Gamakichi put all his energy into keeping it in place. Grunting as Suigetsu's arm expanded just a bit more with each second, bringing him closer and closer to going through the stop.

Naruto knew he had to try something, something to land a good hit, something that could actually hurt him. Then something came to him. Quickly grabbing Suigetsu's blade at the hilt he stared the cold looking man in the eye, his grip on the blade appearing to do nothing to slow him down as Naruto gritted his teeth.

"Gamakichi! Launch us!"

Gamakichi nodded in confirmation, as he put in the rest of his strength with his last move. Keeping his grip on the blade, he brought some chakra to his hands to keep a hold on it as he used his legs to launch himself up and over the two, hands still on the blade before he spun around and launched the blade into the air. Naruto and Suigetsu both being launched as well. The Toad giving a thumbs up to his summoner before puffing away, having used too much chakra just to try and stop the opponent.

The two found themselves well above the clearing, reaching their highest point on the launch. With Naruto seeing Suigetsu look at him, the cold look he had being replaced with one of laughter.

"God damn kid, been a while since I've had a match as interesting as this!" Suigetsu roared, while Naruto felt himself sweatdrop, one second the guy was carefree, the next it felt like he could end him with a swipe, he really couldn't understand this guy and what he was about.

But he had a plan to try and do, and by planting his feet on the Suigetsu's blade he launched himself even higher as he placed his hands together in a seal.

_'Come on come on, I can do this!'_ Naruto thought as he felt gravity start to slow him and Suigetsu down, he was running out of time, if this was gonna work, he had to do it before the latter hit the ground.

_'Ku?'_ Naruto asked, hoping to the god above she would pity him somewhat as he felt his chakra start to pile up around his stomach, a light glow emanating from it as well. But if this was gonna work fully, he needed one last thing.

**_"You owe me."_ **

Naruto smirked at the voice, "HYYAAAHH" He roared as he felt his jumpsuit lift up a bit, exposing the seal on his stomach and causing Suigetsu to raise an eyebrow in confusion. Only to widen them in surprise as he saw a golden line of chain shootout and make his way to him, wrapping around his body before feeling a tug on the chain as it stopped him for a moment while Naruto fell past him to the ground, pulling him down as well.

As he fell Naruto made sure to keep his feet flat and knees bent for the landing, his hands still in a seal while he focused on keeping his chains out, smirking to himself as he saw them sway in front of his eyes. They were much smaller than before, no bigger than half the size of his wrist. And even though he could feel his chakra draining fast, it was an immense improvement to when he tried earlier in the day.

Landing on the ground first Naruto twisted his body, tugging at the chain with force as he aimed it straight into the hard ground. Seeing his goal Suigetsu felt a bit of disappointment in the boy, _'Does he not remember those types of physical attacks don't work on me?'_ He thought, _'Welp, better slip past these chains I guess'_

But as Suigetsu continued to fall, he realized something, he couldn't turn his body into water.

_'What the!'_ What's going on!' Suigetsu panicked, not understanding what was happening, he should have enough chakra and liquid to get out of these chains quick, so why wasn't his body liquifying?

_'The chains!'_ He realized, taking a look at their golden glow as they wrapped tighter around him as he finally recognized them, _'You gotta be kidding me!'_

"Take this!" Naruto shouted as with one last tug he threw Suigetsu down to the ground, a large crack being heard with a cloud of dust kicking up as well. And Naruto could swear he saw Suigetsu cough up a bit of blood. The Genin getting a proud look on his face until he clutched his chest in pain and fell to his knees, the chains he summoned quickly dissipating in a golden puff as he started to cough a bit violently, doing his best to get his breathing under control.

"And here I thought Karin was the only one who could use those things."

Naruto was able to look at the source of the voice through the dust cloud, revealing Suigetsu on his side, his face appearing a bit roughed up with some dry blood on the side of his mouth, but from the blank stare he gave the blonde, it seemed as though he didn't care. And while his blade dug into the ground behind him, Naruto giving a surprised look when he saw the swordsmen waist, revealing his hips to be in some sort of watery jelly-like state.

But as Naruto tried to get up, he felt his strength failing him, before he tumbled back to the ground and past out. His chakra mostly depleted from the fight.

"Hmm, guess I win." Suigetsu snickered, he _was_ still conscious, even if he was unable to regulate his body at the moment.

"Well then you should be disappointed in that win, I thought you said you were gonna collect all the blades from the 7 ninja swordsmen, yet look at what a Genin did to you."

Suigetsu frowned at Sasuke, who choose not to look at him as he kneeled down to Naruto, making sure the boy was alright.

"Hey, you and I both know those chains are ridiculous, not to mention my body's still out of whack from all those experiments Orochimaru did!" Suigetsu defended

Sasuke just ignored him though as he checked Naruto, "Karin, get over here." He called out to the red-head.

Obeying the order, Karin made her way to the Uchiha and Genin, her expression to the latter one of curiosity and puzzlement.

"Heal and take care of him." He told her, Karin nodding in understanding as she kneeled next to the boy, starting her own assessment on his current health.

"Hey, what about me?!" Suigetsu asked, clearly he was in much more need of the medical attention right?

"You wanted to fight him, you'll deal with the consequences" Sasuke replied before making his way to Jiraiya and Kakashi.

"Oh come on." Suigetsu muttered, before giving out a groan as his sword fell on top of him.

* * *

Naruto was just about able to crack his eyes open as he started to regain consciousness, his vision being filled up with the dark sky, blanketed with the light of countless stars. Shifting around he found himself without his jumpsuit with only a white shirt and boxers on him, his body encased in some sleeping bag from what he could tell. Oh, and his body felt fatigue, like really fatigued.

"I would recommend not moving for a bit." A voice told him.

Turning his head to the side he a small fire burning a few feet away, and to the side sat a red hair girl with glasses, leaning her back against the tree behind her while she poked the flame with a stick, glancing at him for a moment before looking up past the flame.

Turning his head to the direction as well Naruto saw Suigetsu, eyes closed as he appeared to be sleeping from the light snoring he heard, however, his waist still appeared to be in that jelly-like state from before.

"Oh, is he ok?" Naruto asked, generally worried about the guy.

Not looking at him Karin replied, "He'll be fine by morning, his chakra just a bit out of whack from the battle so he can't properly regulate his form in the affected area."

"Oh," Naruto breathed out, eyes blinking a bit before groaning in pain as he felt a sudden soreness come from his stomach.

"You should be lucky that's all you'll feeling." Karin flatly stated, the boy shooting her a 'what?' look as she decided to elaborate.

"Those chains are not something you use without proper training and regulation, and from what I saw, you've only recently started using it." Karin stated, but before Naruto could reply she continued, "And even with those ridiculous chakra reserves of yours, if you run out, you'll feel even worse than you are now." She warned, smirking as she heard the boy gulp.

But Naruto than eyed the girl a bit questionably, causing her to become somewhat uncomfortable from his gaze, "What?" She asked, a bit irritated.

"How do you know about the chains?" He questioned.

Karin smirked with a scoff, "Cause I can use them as well."

Naruto's eyes went wide-eyed, "You're, you're an Uzumaki?"

Karin simply nodded, not caring about him knowing, however, his reaction is what surprised her.

"Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed, catching the redhead Uzumaki off guard.

Karin felt shocked from the comment, but immediately stopped when Naruto sat up quickly, only to groan and clutch his chest in pain.

"I told you not to move!" Karin berated him with irritation as she made his way to him, placing a hand on his covered stomach to make sure he didn't do any unnecessary damage.

"Sorry, One-san." He apologized with a grunt, causing Karin to tense up from the word, she couldn't remember the last time anyone referred to her with a prefix like that.

"Why did you call me that?" She asked a bit fluster, not looking at him.

Naruto looked at her in confusion though, "Well, your an Uzumaki, right? That makes us related, so we're family."

Karin felt her eyes widen at the comment, "You don't even know my name." She pointed out.

But Naruto just gave her a toothy smile, "Well then you can tell me, my name's Naruto."

Karin couldn't help but look at him, his enthusiasm was contagious, and she felt a small smirk come onto her face from his innocence.

Naruto though than proceed to look around, slowly though as to not strain his body, noticing he didn't see Sasuke, Kakashi, or even Jiraiya.

"Hey, where's everyone else?" He asked.

"Out in town at the moment. And, its Karin by the way." She replied as she helped to lay him back down.

"Karin," Naruto repeated as he looked up at her, "So, how'd you meet Sasuke Nii-san?" He asked as she went back to the tree to rest, the girl giving him a raised eyebrow from the question before lowering it and sighing. She didn't know why, but Naruto was giving off this sort of aura she rarely sees, it was pure, and warm, though it seemed to be a bit off near his center though.

"Meet him a while back, bumped into each other over the years, and now I've chosen to follow him for now." She answered while keeping her eyes on the flame, deciding not to elaborate on the exact reason she followed Sasuke before giving a light chuckle, "Now get back to sleep, the longer you're awake the less chakra that's being replenished, rest up."

Naruto decided not to argue with her as he shifted around in the bag to make himself comfortable, but before he decided to drift back off into sleep, he had to request something.

"Hey, Karin One-san, I was wondering, you said you could use the chains as well, do you think you could teach me as well?"

Even though Naruto couldn't see her, he could swear she seemed to freeze up before responding.

"That's not a technique I myself am efficient in, not to mention my group is leaving tomorrow as well, there wouldn't be enough time to actually teach you." She told him

"Than give me some tips?" He asked with a pleading tone. He knew if he wanted to use this technique in the exam he was gonna have to make it practical, and with how much chakra this technique was taking, he had to do it fast.

He heard Karin give a sigh as she seemed to ponder the plea for a moment before relenting, "Go to sleep, I'll wake you up before the sun even rises."

Naruto smirked, "Thanks, Karin One-san".

Karin smirked as well, she didn't know why, be it they were from the same clan, his relationship with Sasuke, or whether or not she just liked the kid. She couldn't help but want to help him somehow, that and he did give her a good show of Suigetsu getting his ass handed to him.

* * *

"Hey, kid, time to get up."

Naruto groaned at the voice as he tossed in his sleep, turning to his side as he heard an annoyed huff and some muttering.

"Come on, you were the one who agreed to get up this early, you wanna learn about the chains or not?"

Naruto's eyes burst open as he immediately sat up, looking around he turned to his side, fining a pair of black knee high boots in front of him, looking up the path of their long legs he saw a hand placed on a hip and a redhead looking down at him, a lighting dark sky above her.

"Good, your up." Karin stated as she turned around and started walking, "Come on, I only got around 3 hours to teach you so you better get dressed and hurry."

Quickly following her advice the Genin put on his orange jumpsuit before running to Karin as they made their way to a more secluded part of the clearing, away from the group. Once they were far enough away, Karin leaned up against a tree as she beckoned Naruto to stay still and listen.

"Ok, first off, during your battle you had the right idea of making the chains smaller, that way they won't take as much chakra as a full version does," She started, seeing Naruto nod his heads in acknowledgment as she brought her hand up and extended a finger upwards, "However, you still have the chains give their full effect, and that includes their sealing properties, and I'm gonna take a guess here, but I assume your sealing techniques aren't the most polished out there, and for those chains, even the best would have trouble." She took another sigh before continuing, "But there is a way to get around that, by using an incomplete version of the technique."

Naruto's eyes widen at those last words, "Incomplete?" He repeated, Karin nodding in confirmation.

"The Adamantine Attacking Chains, that's what they're called,"

Naruto's eyes blinked for a moment, "What's the difference between them and the Sealing Chains?" He asked.

Taking a moment to gather her words Karin closer her eyes, before opening them and staring straight at the boy, "Well, as you could probably guess from the names, one is for attacking, the other for sealing, with the sealing one being more powerful as it has the same properties as the attacking chains but with more effects, and thus, a lot more chakra consumption." She explained, seeing Naruto listing very closely to her explanation but still seemed like he needed a bit more explaining.

Crossing her arms she tried to think of an example she could use before one popped into her head, "Well, for example, when your chains wrapped around Suigetsu, they completely sealed off his chakra, meaning not only could he not turn his body into water, he couldn't perform any jutsu as well, and with no way of summoning his chakra, his body weakened enough for your attack to do damage him more than an attack like that would've normally." She started, making sure Naruto was paying close attention before adding on, "The Attack Chains, though, would not have sealed away his chakra, however, they still would've hurt him. So with those chains, while you might not be able to capture Suigetsu like you did, you could have swung it around and all he'd be able to do would either be guarding or dodging for the impact. And if you're quick enough, you could have them wrap around quick enough to control his movement for a second or two before he could get out."

Karin finished the explanation, seeing that Naruto had his eyes closed while he held his chin, clearly processing the information just heard before opening his eyes, "Ok, I think I understand the difference. But, how do I use the attacking chains? All I know how to do is, well, summon the chains in general, I don't think I've been given a choice of which version I'd like to use." He told her.

But Karin only smirked, "And that's why we're gonna have you practice using the chains, right now, all you know how to summon are when the chains have their full sealing effects. So we're gonna have you use the chains for an extended period of time. And eventually, they'll lose their sealing effect and turn into the Attacking Chains. Once you know what it feels like, you'll be able to summon that version."

But Naruto gave her a questioning look, "An extended period of time? But I can barely keep it summoned for under 10 seconds!" He pointed out, but Karin continued her smirk as she reached into her back pouch and pulled something out, extending her palm to Naruto and opening it up, revealing a small pill.

"Take it and eat it," She told him, the Genin doing as he was told and swallowed the pill with a gulp, "That pill will suppress your chakra output, meaning you can't output much chakra during a jutsu. For something like the chains, it can't take as much chakra as before and thus, stay out longer, however that'll make them much weaker and harder to summon at first." She explained before removing herself from the tree she was leaning on, "Now, you'll focus on gather your chakra and try to summon the chains to wrap around this tree. It may take a couple of tries but once you got it, make sure to keep it active for as long as you can. And once I've noticed the chains are in their attacking state, I'll let you know and you can remember that feeling so you can train on your own, got it."

"Got Karin One-san" Naruto replied as he put his hands in a seal, gathering chakra and immediately noticing the way the pill seemed to affect his chakra.

Looking at him Karin smiled, "Good, now make sure not to mess up, you'll only get one shot at this while I'm here to help."

* * *

"All right, just a little more, you're almost there."

Naruto grunted a bit as Karin gave him words of encouragement, despite barely moving since they began, he could feel sweat dripping down the sides of his face, his eyes stinging as he could rarely blink without losing focus. As just one misstep could puff away at the chains that were currently wrapped around the tree, its size about as big as his pinky, while its once golden glow seemed to dim much more. It took Naruto a couple of tries but he finally was able to summon the chains in this state, the chakra suppression pill helping him from overflowing it with his chakra, but that just made it harder to keep it out.

_'At least I'm not passing out.'_ Naruto thought as he noticed Karin inspect the chains closely once again before a smirk came on her face.

"You're there, they've completely lost their sealing effects," She stated while looking at him, hand on her hip, "Now remember this feeling, it'll be how you'll call these chains again in the future at this level."

Naruto didn't nod, but Karin knew he heard her, he was just focusing on actually memorizing the chains, eyes closed as his body seemed to go still, in fact, he looked so still Karin wondered if he was even breat-.

" _*cough*_! _*cough*_! _*cough*_! "

Oh, **Karin realized,** he actually wasn't. The loss of breath and coughing fit causing the boy to lose his hold on the chains, their form dissipating in a familiar golden puff as Naruto got on his knees, his body finally starting to allow the fatigue of his focus come over him while trying to get his breathing back to normal.

Karin just sighed, she knew she didn't have to check on him, he just needed to rest. But what made her sigh was the white-hair swordsman walking towards them. Taking a glance at the panting Naruto before giving the redhead a look that she immediately understood.

Suigetsu made his way back to the others. Leaving the Uzumaki's by themselves. Walking up to the boy Karin put a hand on her hip while the other one rummaged through the pouch on her lower back.

"Its time for me to go," She told the boy flatly, not really caring to see his reaction but could see the nod of understanding he gave. But then had one of confusion at her extended hand, a capsule containing multiple pills inside resting atop of it.

"Here, these should be more than enough pills for you to practice with." She stated, shaking the capsule in front of him, jiggling the contents within in an attempt to get him to take it, which he did. Putting the pills in his back pouch as he looked up to his relative, who waited for his full attention.

"Listen here, it'll usually take a few hours for your chakra output to return to normal. However, if you want to use the pill again, then you gotta wait another two hours after your normal chakra is back for the effects to be safe." She explained, her stare being as stern as he's seen in Sakura a couple of times, "Are we clear?"

Naruto nodded up and down as quickly as his tired from could, "Yes, Karin One-san,"

"Good,"

And with that, Karin turned to the other side of the clearing, Naruto looking over there as well as he saw Sasuke and Kakashi ready to go as they look over at them. But just as she was about to join them, the older Uzumaki said one more thing to the blonde.

"Oh, and good luck, Naruto."

And with she disappeared with a swoosh, Suigetsu, Kakashi, and Sasuke all following it as well. The last two giving him a wave before disappearing. And as Jiraiya made his way over to the boy, he saw the smile he had on his tired face. Letting him rest for a few more minutes before saying.

"Get ready to leave, only five more days tills the tournament starts, so we should start to head back." He stated, seeing Naruto nod in understanding.

* * *

*2 days later

Naruto could feel his insides burning, one of his hands formed into a seal placed on his stomach, while his right was also in a seal extended outwards, the burning sensation traveling up his body, to his arm and through it, before reaching the palm of his hand. It was so close, he was so close, just a little more.

"AHHHH!" Naruto screamed, sweat dripping down his face as his body shook yet tensed up as well. Before he saw those familiar golden chains exploded from the palm of his hand. Shooting towards the rocked in front of him and wrapping around, their dim golden hue confirming to Naruto they were in their attacking state.

Off to the side Jiraiya smirked at the scene, it took a whole day of planning and preparation, along with a couple of seals to help him focus, but Naruto was learning how to summon the chains from other parts of his body, and if they kept this up. By tomorrow it could be possible he wouldn't need to constantly keep a hand seal going to have them out. Though that's only if luck was really on their side. Jumping down he saw Naruto release the hand-sign, the chains disappearing as well as he placed his hands on his knees and took a couple of deep breaths. Hearing the footsteps coming towards his side Naruto tilted his head to Jiraiya, widening his eyes as he saw the Sannin through something at him that the Genin was barely able to catch in time.

"Chains?" Naruto asked as he extended the metal linked items in his hand, noticing their weight and size.

"Yep, did my best to make them feel like the ones you've been producing, but even so it won't truly feel like the real thing," Jiraiya stated as he saw Naruto extended the chains in his hands slightly, his energy slowly returning to him as the Toad Sage continued, "So, considering how you plan on using those chakra chains of yours. I think it'll be good to have those as practice."

Naruto smirked, looking at Jiraiya the two quickly made their way to opposite sides of the clearing, ready for the Genin to practice some new skills.

* * *

Naruto looked up at the ceiling above him, back flat against the bed beneath him while the sound of sand blowing and the light of the sun filled his senses in the motel room he was currently starting out. Turns out the tournament wasn't gonna be held in the Sand Village itself, instead it was gonna be in a town close to the border that was apparently used as a place for officials of the sand and other places to meet when the trek to the Sand village itself was deemed too risky. That and apparently it was just safer to get more tourist to come and watch, this exam needed to make a profit somehow for the village, and the town looked like a mini village to Naruto, with one side leading out into the cruel desert, while the other lead into the forest borders. And currently Jiraiya was out in the town, while Naruto decided to rest a bit more, he could've been doing some last minute training but.

"Did he really have to tape them up?" Naruto muttered, bringing up one of his hands he saw the white bandages wrapped around it, a seal with the picture of a toad wrapping its tongue around his hand visible on his palm. Jiraiya didn't want him to overexert himself before the tournament, so he put a seal to stop him from doing any major training, he could still use jutsu, but there was no way he would be able to do any type of summonings, be it Gamakichi, or the chains.

"At least I'm as prepared as I can hope to be," Naruto told himself, his chains were as good as he could make them for now, he just hoped that when the time came, all he had to worry about was ending the battles quickly with them, even with the training, they were still taking up more chakra than he would like.

Getting up from the bed the blonde walked to the window, pushing the covers out more and looking out to the town in front of him, trying to spot something for him to in the meantime. But as he was about to just go back to bed, one building caught his eyes.

"I could take a dip in the hot springs," Naruto stated as he quickly grabbed his stuff and left.

* * *

"Man this place sure does look nice."

"No kidding, reminds me a bit of the Leaf."

"Well, that's cause this place was originally made to help form a truce between the Leaf and the Sand by the each of their first Kage" Temari explained to the group consisting of most of the Konoha 12, minus Sasuke of course, as they walked around town. The group was currently here to watch the final part of the exam, and cheer on their representatives too. But the Jonin of the group, Shikamaru and Neji, also knew they were here to buff security for whatever reason. And even if they didn't know the reason, they made sure to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

But while they kept their eyes open, and the rest of the group continued onwards, a certain Hyuuga and Uzumaki held to the back, the Hyuuga looking more down than her Uzumaki companion.

"Hinata?" Naruto questioned, making sure her friend was still alright as she walked with her hands behind her head, only for the Hyuuga to give no response.

"Hinata!" She stated louder, knocking the girl out of whatever daze she was in.

Whipping her head around Hinata realized just how out of it she was, "Sorry Naruko," She apologized as she brought a hand to her head, closing her eyes as she leaned on it.

Looking at her friend with concern the blonde slowed down her pace, "You ok?"

Stopping in her tracks the Hyuuga shook her head, "No, I just feel so worried for Hanabi, even with all the training she's gotten over the past month I still don't know if it'll be enough, what if I could've done more." Hinata explained, Naruko hearing the solemn tone in her voice.

Giving a sigh the blonde could relate to the dilemma, "I get what you mean, I've been doing my best with Konohamaru, but even then I'm still new to all this teaching. And then there's Naruto, god knows what he's been doing with Pervy Sage." She joked, noticing Hinata giving a light chuckle from her words but still appearing a bit down. Closing her eyes the blonde tried to think of a solution to her worrying friend.

Clicking her tongue the Jinchuriki brought a hand to Hinata shoulders, giving her a bright smile when she turned to her, "Hey, I got an idea, why don't you go take a dip in that hot spring we saw a bit back? I'll go and meet you in the bit while you relax, ok?" Naruko suggested, seeing Hinata ponder the choice for a bit before giving a tired smile.

"Sure," Hinata agreed, figuring it would just be easier to accept, than have Naruko try and find something else, maybe a quick dip would be all she needed.

* * *

**"What do you mean they're all closed!" Naruto shouted unbelievably at the attendant, a clear look of disappointment on his face as the attendant could only give him a sorry expression.**

"I'm truly sorry sir, but all the male bathhouses are being renovated for now, the best we can say is that they'll be ready by tomorrow." She explained to the blonde, who she saw give a sigh as he nodded in understanding. Turning on his heels as he walked out, a disappointed step in his stroll. But as he was rounding the corner to the bathhouse he heard what could only be described as screams of embarrassment, coming from within the building. The reason? Well, it fell right in front of him.

"AHHHH!" Jiraiya screamed as he landed back first on the ground in front of Naruto, the blood coming from his nose, and the multiple slap marks he had on his face were all Naruto needed to know in order to figure out what had happened.

"Uhhhh" Jiraiya let out in a daze, stars floating around in head as he seemed content to just lay there, but the booming voice that Naruto heard next made that a bad idea.

"Where is he!"

Naruto could immediately hear the massive amounts of footsteps coming from within building as he could hear them making their way out. Quickly picking up the dazed out Toad Sage Naruto brought him to a nearby alleyway, placing him against a covered wall as he hid the two of them. Hearing the group of Woman that ran by as they search for the peeping tom.

Naruto was ready to leave Jiraiya there and head back to rest. But he realized if Jiraiya's peeping caused the woman to leave the bathhouse, and they dared not to go back until they made sure he was dealt with, then he would be able to have the bathhouse to himself. All he needed to do was get in.

Smirking to himself the blonde quickly brought his hands together, "Transformation Jutsu!"

A puff of white-smoke surrounded the blonde, dissipating just as quickly as it came, revealing not Naruto, but an image of his older sister. Spinning around Naruto made sure the transformation looked convincing, making sure his sister's copied clothing looked the same and not out of place. Satisfied with the result, Naruto quickly made his way back to the bathhouse, giving a nod to the attendant as she allowed her in. And as Naruto made his way inside the bathhouse, his suspicions were right, as the entire room was empty, a light steam coating the room as not a single clothing was left on the shelf.

Quickly undressing, Naruto made sure to get towel for his, or well, his sister's body, not caring much of the new parts he had, wasn't like they were the real thing, plus he had to have some sort of standards for himself, he didn't want to be labeled a perv, though considering what he was doing at the moment, he may have been stretching his defense.

_'Don't think that way about your Sister!'_ Naruto berated himself as he went over to the showers to prepare himself for the bath, standing under the showered he let the water flow over his skin, noticing the different ways it seemed to flow as compared to his normal form, _'Just cause Kaasan gave me permission to ogle at her doesn't mean I can do the same with Nee-chan'_

Placing the towel nearby for when he got out, the transformed blonde let his new body sink into the stone covered springs, letting out a satisfying sigh as the water wrapped around his body, immediately relaxing the bones and muscles within. Throwing one leg over the other the blonde placed his arms out on the stone perimeter while he leaned back, his body sinking under the water as only his head remained.

The peace and relaxation he had were amazing, but actions had consequences. And for going into the woman's bathhouse, he was about to get his.

"Naruko? How'd you get here before me?"

Naruto immediately opened his eyes, his gasp muffled by the water as his face immediately went a shade of red. _'No! No! No! No! No! WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE HINATA!'_

Said Hyuga gave who she assumed to be her friend a confused look, hand clenching the topknot of her towel which was located between her two large breasts, their top being visible to Naruto as he saw the towel she wore was just barely able to cover her decency as it stopped just above her upper thigh.

Naruto could feel his heart racing, _'Keep it together Naruto, you slip up you could undo the jutsu and Hinata will look at you like a perv for the rest of your life! Play cool for now and find a chance to escape!'_

"Gh-y Hin-gah-a" Naruto tried to greet, only for the water to block his submerged mouth, 'Damn it!'

But thankfully for him, Hinata just chuckled as she planted a foot into the water, undoing the knot of her towel as she unwrapped it from her body, placing it on a rack nearby as she let herself submerge into the water, luckily for her Naruto made sure to close his eyes as to prevent getting a look, taking all of his willpower not to even peak. A smile on her face as the water wrapped around her smooth, pale skin, her arms covering the top of her breast to prevent them from floating upwards.

Resting her eyes she leaned back into the wall behind her, letting the water do its work as she let her worries wash away for now. Naruto meanwhile, peaked his eyes open to check if Hinata was in the water, thanking the gods that she was, with the water being shaded enough as to not be translucent for him to look under. While Hinata relaxed in the waters, Naruto decided to try and escape. Planting his feet he was about to stand up, but froze when Hinata began to talk to him.

"Thanks so much for inviting me here, Naruko, it's been so long since I've been able to take a dip in a hot spring, and it's been even longer since we've been able to relax together like this." The Hyuuga stated with a happy tone, a tone that made Naruto sit back into the water quickly as he covered his new mounds with his arms, copying Hinata's stance as he didn't know how to act in this situation, plus he couldn't just leave now! That would be too suspicious!

Opening her eyes at her companion Hinata raised an eyebrow at her friend's peculiar nature at the moment, as Naruko only gave her an awkward smile. But she thought it must have been all the stress she'd been feeling recently so she ignored it.

Closing her eyes once again the Hyuuga spoke once more, "So, how has your training with Konohamaru been going? You didn't go into much detail before?" She asked, Naruto knew he had to say something, bracing his mind as best he could he mentally slapped himself.

Raising her hand up from the water, Naruto closed his eyes and tilted his head a bit in mock annoyance, "Oh, you know, I try and teach him something, he doesn't understand, we argue for a bit and then he starts to get it." Naruto explained, hoping to the god above that he sounded and looked convincing.

And thankfully it looked like he was as Hinata gave a bit of a giggle from his words, covering her mouth with the side of her hand, "Oh my, well that certainly sounds like a regular training session with you, hopefully, he'll be able to get it down in time for his match. Naruto did say he wanted a strong opponent after all." She smiled

Deciding to roll with the conversation Naruto continued to make small talk as his sister, placing his arm on the stone perimeter he leaned his head on his propped hand while giving Hinata the best blank stare he could, "So what about Hanabi? How has she been doing this last month?" He inquired, not only hoping this would cause her to focus on something else, but because Naruto also curious as to what his teammate had been doing.

Hinata's smile fell a bit, but was still a bit present on her face, "Well, she's learning, but I'm afraid she's been pushing herself too hard, it took way too much convincing to actually get her to rest for the day, but maybe I can get her to come here before tomorrow as well?" Hinata wondered, "It would be a nice way for her to relax, but then again, I think she might be at the age where she's become really self-conscious of her image."

As Hinata pondered the option, she noticed _Naruko_ sit up, and widen her eyes for a moment, as something, or well, the lack of something came into view, "Naruko, can you stand up for a moment" Hinata asked, Naruto mentally sweat dripping from the request, but decided to follow it as to not risk his cover.

And as he stood up, water reaching up to his hips while he placed an arm to discreetly cover his mounds as best he could, he saw Hinata widen her eyes, mouth agape as well.

'That's not a good sign.' Naruto realized, and thought it may have been time to try and leave before any damage to both his body and reputation could be made.

But he couldn't do anything as what Hinata said next made him freeze.

"You don't have the scar," She pointed out, surprise clear in her voice, Naruto eyes widen.

_'Nee-chan has a scar?'_ He'd never seen a scar on her, she'd never even mention having something like that.

Hinata saw the shock on his face, but it didn't come from being found out, but from the information learned instead, _'Don't tell me?'_ Her eyes widening even more, "Naruto?"

Naruto felt his world crack, _'Shit.'_

Time seemed to stop for a moment as he stood there, the two looking at each other for what felt like hours.

_**"I think I know how I what to cash in my favor,"**_ Naruto heard a voice within say, a voice that sounded very sinister in tone.

_'Ku,'_ he pleaded, but to no avail, as he felt his chakra become disrupted, his body going, puff, smoke surrounding it. Gone was the body of his sister, now stood the naked form of his actual body, both his and Hinata's face going into shock. Naruto's only saving grace behind that the water covered his lower area.

Hinata was the first to speak as Naruto saw her face turn into a mix of embarrassment and anger he had never seen in her. Clenching both her fists in front of herself, the Hyuuga closed her eyes before shooting him a look that made feel Naruto simply a disappointment in himself.

"What are you doing!" Hinata demanded, making sure she covered her breasts as best she could with her arms as she scolded the boy, "I'm so disappointed in you right now." She sternly stated, Naruto never hearing her sound like that before.

His face fell massively, arms slumped to his sides as he stood there, disappoint, regret, and self-loathing filling his mind as he didn't know what to say. And Hinata saw this, her anger fell a bit as she took a quick, deep breath to try and calm her emotions. "Why are you here?" She asked, her voice much lower and less stern, giving the blonde a chance to explain himself.

Deciding it was now or never, Naruto gave her the truth, "I wanted to take a dip in the hot springs to relax, but the men's side was closed, I was about to head back but then I noticed all the girl occupants leaving the building quickly. So I figured if they were all gone I could use their side, so I transformed into Nee-chan. But I didn't expect anyone else to come into here as well." He explained, "I'm really sorry Hinata-nee,"

Hinata could hear the regret and honesty in his voice, with a heavy sigh she was ready to forgive and have him head out, but…

"Man, you could've let us go with Hinata too."

"Sorry, but I wanted to give some time for herself, just relaxing with no girl talk, get it?"

"Yeah, shame about the guys though, some of them seemed really deject with their side being out."

"Well at the very least, we don't have to worry about them listening in!"

'Oh no,' Naruto and Hinata thought, the familiar voices of Naruko and their friends getting closing.

Naruto was the first to freak out, "NoNoNoNoNo!" He muttered as he quickly flopped out of the water, grabbing his towel and wrapping it around his body, "What am I supposed to do Hinata-nee, I don't want them to find out I'm here!" He pleaded, desperation clear on his face.

Looking around Hinata tried to look for some escape route for the boy, he couldn't go through the front for obvious reasons, but as she looked up, she noticed the open roof that was present, and while the rest of the walls were high, one was shorter, which should've to lead to the men's side.

"Go up the walls and into the men's side, hurry!" She urged, Naruto nodding as he quickly went for the lower wall, gathering chakra in both his hands and feet as he was about to scale it. Giving a jump to the wooden construct and latching onto it, only for his body to fall down.

"What!" He gasped, surprise on his face as well as Hinata as panic was also expanding on it as their friend's voices came closer.

"Damn it! Why can't I climb it!" Naruto cried, no matter how much chakra he gathered onto his palms and feet, they kept sliding off, 'Wait, don't tell me!' Looking at his wrist, the genin's suspicions were proven right as he saw the wrapped seal around his skin glowing, its toad drawing laughing at him as Naruto realized it was messing with his chakra control as he hopelessly tried to scale the wet surface.

Naruto was about to give up, let fate do its work and take him out of the exam a full day before it even began, but luckily for him. Fate decided to be kind to him as he suddenly felt himself being lifted, an arm wrapped around his waist as he heard the sound of bare feet slick against the wooden surface, his skin pressing into something much silkier and smooth. before he knew it he was at the top divider between the two rooms, before feeling the air rush past his face as he fell into the men's section below. Being laid on the ground as he looked up, seeing Hinata giving him a shoosh as she did her best to cover her body, one arm covering her breast while she turned her body so that her side would face him, bending her knee to make her shapely rear not stick out as well. Being thankful that Naruto immediately had the respect to look away and not try and take advantage of her current bare state as they each heard the sound of their friends making it to the other side.

"Huh? Hinata's not here?" They recognized as Naruko say.

"Weird, I swear I saw her clothes by the shelf," They heard Sakura chime in.

"Maybe she went to the bathroom?" Ino suggested, Hinata thankful to the blonde for a good excuse she could use for when she returned, however, she felt her body suddenly tensed up as she felt a wet object land on her side. Looking at whatever it was she saw a towel draped over her side, covering it as well. Looking at Naruto she saw that he was now bare, his back turned to her as she saw his arms pointed down, most likely covering his groin. She would've been more touched by the gesture, if another problem didn't come for them here as well and interrupt the moment.

"Hey, did you hear something?"

Hinata froze from that sound, her head immediately turning towards the entrance where it originated from, the sound of a pair of footprints heading their way. But before she could move she felt an arm now wrapped around her waist, bringing her to the ground and behind the perimeter of the springs near them She would've been more relieved at being hidden, if it weren't for the position she and Naruto were currently in now.

They looked at each other with shaky eyes, her body propped above his as her legs were planted on each of his sides while her arms rested on either side of his head, her long hair spraying down past her head and dripping onto Naruto's chest and bottom face, thankfully obscuring his view should he try and look below. But he remained looking up at her, feeling, and she him, not even trying to remove the arm he still had wrapped around her waist as they saw each other blush furiously, but kept still.

At least until they heard the pair of footsteps enter the room, at reach point Hinata immediately plummeted her body downwards to try and hide more, incidentally pressing herself into his body. Her large, soft, breast squished against his toned chest, causing Naruto to tense up and accidentally tighten his hold on her waist and bringing her lower half pressed against his, their only saving grace being that the towel fell between their two sexes preventing direct contact.

Hinata felt her blood rush and heartbeat from the warmth his skin felt against her's, but that didn't stop the embarrassment and shame she was feeling as her only action was to bury her face into Naruto's shoulder, doing the best to suppress the embarrassed whine she was emitting.

Naruto would've tried to comfort her at the moment, if he didn't similar feel embarrassment and paralyzed by the contact they were having, doing his best in a losing battle not to get an erection.

"Huh, guess I was just imagining it." The two heard a voice say.

"See, I told you it was nothing, now come on, let go get something to eat, we'll be stuck here for the rest of the day making sure everything is ready for tomorrow." They heard another say.

And with that the pair of footsteps made their way out, leaving an embarrassed Chunin and Genin by themselves as they couldn't find the will to move with the embarrassment they were feeling. But as Hinata continued to try and mentally convince herself everything that had and was happening too just be a dream, her face still in Naruto's shoulder, she felt a hand land on the top of her head, before being lovely stroked down through her locks, the action being repeated once more. It made her feel, relaxed, at ease, lifting her head slightly up she saw Naruto staring at her, keeping his eyes on her's as he gave the best shaky smile and eyes he could muster, doing his best to calm her down by stroking her hair as their bodies kept themselves on each other.

Hinata couldn't help but smile, her heart fluttering a bit as she couldn't help but ignore for a moment the position their bodies were in, almost ready to just ignore their problem and let him continue as she was about to lay her head back down and just enjoy the moment. However, that was not meant to be as she let out a small yelp, feeling something poke her from down below.

Naruto's face turned white from realization, he was so focused on trying to calm Hinata that he forgot to keep fighting another battle with himself, Hinata seeing the results of that battle as turned her head to her back, fearful of what she might see but curiosity and instinct keeping her on course. And when her eyes were in position, they widened in socked as her blushed went into full force. Past the crevice of her rear cheeks she saw a pole, or with the towel covering it, tent rise past it. A small pulse being recognized from the way the towel slightly shocked around the top.

Naruto let his head hit the ground beneath him, it was over, any chance of their relationship going back to normal was shattered as he saw Hinata stare at his thankfully covered erection, and at that moment, he would've gladly given up on the tournament if it meant making this interaction between the two of them became nonexistent.

Hinata meanwhile, despite how on the outside she was incredibly embarrassed and shocked at the sight, that along with the slight shiver she gave from his muscular chest, she couldn't help but feel a bit excited deep down, both her lips quiver slightly in response. The two keeping like that for what felt like hours, neither moving.

* * *

Naruto sighed as he opened his eyes, the morning sun peaking through the cracks of the curtains as they landed on his bed, giving the blonde his wake up call as today was the day, the day he would have a chance to prove himself. Getting off the bed he quickly went through his morning routine to get ready, seeing he had a few hours till he had to be at the stadium.

Finishing his shower, he put on his clothes, his thoughts drifting back to the interaction with Hinata from yesterday. After he sported his erection things just went silent between the two of them, none of them talking as they silently made they're way out, Hinata not even looking at him as she handed him his clothes as he left.

'Calm down Naruto! You can focus on that blunder another time, today you have to focus on the tournament!' He berated himself, tying his headband tightly around his head as he made sure he had even necessity he could stock in his pouches. Giving a look in the mirror, he gave himself a smirk, looking at his wrist he pulled off the bandaged seal Jiraiya placed before heading off.

Making his way onto the streets he noticed just how desolated it seemed, only a few people wandering around while most of the shops were closed, and the few people that he saw moving, headed towards the large stadium by the edge of town, situated between the dunes of the desert and lush trees of the forest. He was about to head towards that direction with jumps among the rooftops, but a familiar voice brought him out of it.

"Naruto?"

Turning towards the source he saw Hanabi standing there, giving the blonde a blank stare as she held a hand on her hip.

Naruto blinked a few times, before smiling at Hyuuga, the heiress herself smiling back. And with a nod, they found themselves jumping from rooftop to rooftop, no words needing to be exchanged as they could feel the change emanating from each other, and they couldn't wait to show off the results of their training.

Landing on the last building near the stadium, they took a moment to pause and look at where they would prove themselves to the words, and they each couldn't help but shiver from the massive crowd still trying to get in. They were about to head inside through the hidden entrance they were given access to. But paused when they heard a pair of familiar voices.

"Naruto! Hanabi!"

Looking towards the sound they Matsuri and Yukata clad in much casual clothing, waving excitedly at them as they waited to go inside.

"Good luck you two!" Matsuri shouted, Yukata nodding her head as well as the two sand ninja wish their friends good luck.

Hanabi gave a simple nod to the pair, smile on her face as well. Naruto though gave a thumbs up. The two leaving the top of the building and heading towards the back of the stadium.

* * *

Naruto and Hanabi walked through the halls of the stadium, only a few Sand Ninja dotting insides the corridors as the lace was only available to the participates and other high ranking shinobi. Making their up a few steps they found themselves in a large room, the wall to the inside of the arena cut out completely as a rail stood their instead. The other participates quickly noticing their entrance, Samui's team giving them a quick look before facing back into the inside of the arena while Konohamaru motioned them to stand by his team, the two Leaf teams nodding to each other before looking out into the arena below. Naruto noticed how it appeared very similar to the Leaf's own arena, a mostly grassy plain with a hard dirt center, and a couple of trees dotting the outsides near the wall.

In all honesty, this probably wasn't the best terrain to test a Ninja's true ability, as it would mostly just turn into an all-out brawl of which opponent could at last the other with not much where to hide. But then again, Naruto knew this part of the exam was mainly for the spectacle, and it would be boring for an audience member if they couldn't see the fight.

Looking up Naruto's eyes scanned the top edges of the arena, looking for the extra tall stands that would house the most important spectators of the tournament, the Kages themselves. And he found their box that held their seats, its roof thin as it shaded the inside from the sun, it's front unrestricted by any obstacle as to allow the kage a full view of the arena below. But what caught Naruto's eye was not the kage themselves, his dad noticing his stare a giving a small wave to his son which Naruto returned. But it was the third seat that sat on the side next to Gaara, and on the other side of his father.

* * *

"It seems all the participants have arrived," Gaara stated as he saw Minato finish waving to his son, the two blonde appearing to have bright smiles on their faces.

Laying back in his chair, Minato nodded in agreement, before looking at the filled stands of the stadium, with even more people coming in, "I guess that means will be ready to start in a bit," He replied, before looking at the empty seat beside them and giving a sigh, "That's if our honored guest would show up,"

Gaara was about to nod in agreement, but the large, heavy steps he and the Hokage felt brought their attention to the side, seeing a large man standing there, a white coat over his body which had its front open, exposing his tan-dark skin. The two other Kage saw the small mustache and goatee on his lower face, shaded by his large dark- yellowish hat which covered his eyes, the bottom of his large fists being seen through the sleeves of his coat as he sat down, the two ninja by his side standing near the back against the wall, giving a nod to the other bodyguards as well.

"You know, for claiming to be the fastest Ninja alive, you sure took your sweet time getting here." Minata joked to the man, who gave a small chuckle in response.

Tilting his head to the side, the man's hat moved slightly, exposing one of his eyes to the two Kage, showing its passionate yet furious look it held, "My my, Hokage, I didn't take you for a jokester," He replied, "Besides, considering my nation is on the other side of the continent, I thought I made good time, especially considering I didn't originally have plans to be here, the biggest challenge was actually making sure the village would be safe in my absence."

Looking at the stadium the Raikage's eyes fell on the small cut out wall that housed 8 participates, 3 he recognized from his own nation, "I must say, Kazekage, it's a shame a team from your nation didn't make it into the finals as well. That would've been a nice spectacle for the fans, especially considering it's your village hosting the exam the tournament this year." The Raikage commented, Gaara clearly hearing the clear undertone of disappointment in his village's power. But that was politics, and from what Minato had told him, the Raikage was a man who respected strength.

Closing his eyes, Gaara made sure to gather his words before speaking, "Perhaps, but I'm proud at how my Genin performed, their skills may not have been enough to get to the final round, but the bonds they made and their willingness to push on has impressed me." Gaara defended, noticing the Raikage give a low chuckle as he saw the smirk on the man's face. Gaara taking it as a good sign, "Now then, I believe it's time to begin."

Raising a hand up to his bodyguards, he didn't even need to give them a look as Temari jump forward, taking her fan from her back as it expanded under her, allowing her to glide down as she passed by the participates, nodding at them to get read as the whole stadium watched her descend towards the center of the arena.

Landing in the center, Temari placed her fan back on her back, eyes closed for a moment before opening them up at the crowd around her, "Welcome, to the final round of the Chunin Exam!" Termai greeted with a booming voice, reaching the very back of the stadium's seats, "As you all know this is a place for the Genin who have made it past the previous parts of the Exam to give their final performance of becoming a Chunin, to show their best to the world watching!"

Extending her arm out she pointed it towards the Genin in their box, all eyes from the crowd going towards them, "And here are those eight Genin,"

The crowd cheered for them, excitement clearly in the air as the Genin smirked in anticipation, but inwardly were all shaking in anxiousness on the inside.

* * *

Up in the stands, a familiar group of Leaf Shinobi sat together, thankfully having a good view of the action due to their ranks. Some of them cheering louder than the others.

"Well, at least it looks like your brother didn't come as late as you did," Ino teased her fellow blonde, smirking as she saw her tense up in embarrassment.

"We-well, I had to make a ground entrance! I was fighting in the first match after all!" Naruko defended as she puffed her chest out and gave a smirk, only to than slump down a bit as she heard the chuckle her friends gave.

"Well, either way, a Hyuuga is still in the first match," Neji pointed out, a small smirk on her face as he gave a glance at Hinata, "And she's gonna win," She finished, looking at her sister down below.

* * *

Naruto kept on waving to the cheering crowd, it gave him something to keep him occupied from his anxiety. But the scoff he heard on his right made him pause. Moving his eyes he saw the cloud Ninja known as Karui give him an annoyed glare, the one he knew as Samui keeping her eyes forward while the other one, Omoi, gave his red-hair teammate an annoyed sigh.

Noticing Karui caught his stare, Naruto decided to have a little fun. "You know, if you've been giving me that same annoyed look all for the exam," He pointed out, his statement catching the attention of the other participates as they saw Karui give the blonde a lethal glare.

Turning to face him, Karui spoke her mind, "You still have that care-free smirk you've had since the beginning, thinking things will always go your way. But they won't, and I wanna be the one to wipe that smirk off your face." She told him.

But Naruto continued to widen his smirk as he now fully faced her, "Maybe so, but I like to hope for the best, cause it gives me a goal to strive for," He explained, "But unfortunately, you won't get the chance to wipe that smirk off my face."

Before the cloud Ninja could react, Naruto stepped to the side, allowing Karui to look at his teammate instead, "Cause she'll be the one moving on."

Hanabi and Karui stared each other down, the Hyuuga feeling the cloud's intense emotions from her gaze as she shot back a passionate look of her own. Noticing the look Naruto was giving her, was this his way of getting her fired up? She gave a small smile as she thought of it.

"Will the participants of the first match, Karui of the Hidden Cloud and Hanabi of the Hidden Leaf please come down!" Temari called, smirking as she saw the two opponents already getting into gear in the box. This was gonna be an interesting match.


	15. Fight!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kept you waiting, huh? Hiatus is over! Yay! Was able to write a good amout of chapers during the break. And for some more cool news, I can confirm the next two chapters of the story will be released in two week intervals of each other! So look forward to that! But now, the first fight of the Chunin Exams!

Hanabi and Karui continued to stare each other down in their box, it felt like they were standing there for hours, but in reality, it only lasted a few moments before they begin to walk down. Karui going down the stairs first, Hanabi about to follow her until some words of encouragement made her pause.

"We'll be waiting for you," Naruto told her with a smile, the others next to him giving a look of encouragement. Smiling back Hanabi gave a wave as she made her way down. Walking through the desolate walls the only sounds she heard was the ringing of her sandals bouncing off from the floor against the walls. It felt, strangely, calming to her. But that sound was being lost as she came closer to the exit, the sun's rays illuminating the opening as she walked through, immediately feeling the grassy ground under her as she made her way to the center, her opponent already in place.

Reaching her spot on the other side of her, Hanabi took a moment to look around the arena's stands, the feeling of hundreds of eyes focused on her, she was feeling a bit overwhelmed as her, her heart beating a bit rapidly as she noticed her Father along with some of the Clan elders sitting in one of the more private sections. But, then her eyes landed on Sister, Hinata noticing her gaze as she gave her a smile, the Hyuuga heiress returning a small one back.

"Are both Participates ready?" Temari questioned, making sure they were each ready and focused. Getting her answer as they each gave their proctor a nod before facing each other. Hanabi smirked at her opponent, she felt, ready, and she was about to give it her all. And when she saw Temari raise her hand up, she knew it was time.

"Begin!" The Blonde commanded, and the first match of the Chunin Exams had begun.

Karui immediately took the chance to land the first strike. Grabbing the hilt of her katana she quickly unsheathed it, Hanabi already activating her Byakugan as she got into a fighting stance, quickly moving back as she saw Karui take a step forward and begin a frontal slash.

But Karui only smirked at her opponent's movement as she changed her blade's direction from a frontal slash to a diagonal uppercut one as she had the tip cut through the dirt ground, only to then throw the dug up dirt at Hanabi. Forcing the Hyuuga quickly close her eyes in order to shield them. Hearing the quick footsteps of her opponent as she charged at her, the ring of her blade cutting through the air while entering her ears as well. Turning her body so that her backside was facing her opponent, Hanabi narrowly opened her eyes, enough so that her full 360 vision would return to her, seeing that Karui was now attempting a side slash with her blade.

Quickly taking out a kunai from her pouch, Hanabi clashed its metal with the blade for a moment, slowing down its moment as she proceeded to back kick her opponent. The strike sending the Cloud Ninja a few feet away as she skidded to a stop, Hanabi placing her foot down as she faced her opponent, noticing the irritated look on her face.

* * *

"Nice! She landed the first hit!" TenTen exclaimed, having a wide smile on her face along with most of her friends, noticing the smirk Neji seemed to give at the sight, but he still seemed to hold that same look of modesty as well.

"Don't get too excited, the battle's just starting," The Branch Hyuuga warned, as they saw the Red-hair cloud tightly grip her blade as she prepared for another strike, Hanabi widening her stance in case she needed to back away.

* * *

The two Genin began to move in a circle around each other, their feet light off the ground as they waited for the perfect moment to move. Hanabi making the first move as she threw her kunai at Karui, only for her to deflect it with her blade as Hanabi charged at her. Karui attempt a downwards thrust of her blade, Hanabi dodging it as she moved her body to the side, attempting a jab with her chakra filled hand at the girl, who also dogged the strike.

The two began exchanging a flurry of blows, each attack barely grazing the other if at all, their movements become a blur for the untrained in the audience.

Not slowing down, Karui changed the angle of her thrust to than go for her opponent's knees, Hanabi seeing the change in angle, jump over the blade. Proceeding to than give a strong kick to Karui's face, the red-hair cloud blocking it with her other hand as she quickly changed the hold of her blade, now gripping it backhanded as she attempted to stab the girl before she could get back on the ground. Didn't matter if she had 360 vision if she couldn't react to it in time.

Hanabi, seeing the blade coming for her, quickly shot forward her back palm, "Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"

A gust of power compressed air shot from her palm, though due to her stance it didn't do much damage to her opponent besides just throwing her balance off, changing the direction of her blade while Hanabi was able to push herself a foot or two away, dodging the strike.

Landing a few feet away, Hanabi decided to keep her distance as she started to constantly shoot her Vacuum Palms one after another. Forcing her opponent to keep her own distance in an effort to dodge them. Focusing her next shot, the Hyuuga aimed it for Karui's feet, forcing the cloud ninja to jump up to dodge it, going right were Hanabi wanted her as she quickly shot another of the compressed air, believing the redhead wouldn't be able to dodge it.

But she was proven wrong as Karui grit her teeth and tightly gripped her blade, Hanabi seeing the girl's chakra flow through the blade as she slashed it forward, cutting through the compressed air and saving her from a hard hit as she got back on her feet. And while Hanabi was about to make her next move, she wasn't given the chance as Kauri dug her blade into the ground, gripping its hilt as she gave the Hyuuga a mocking grin.

"Earth Style: Crevice Slash!" Karui shouted as she pushed her blade forward, the sound of earth and rock shaking being heard and felt by Hanabi, as the ground in front of Karui's blade crack, making a beeline straight for Hanabi as the girl barely dodged to the side in time, the ground finishing its cracking as Hanabi saw just how much it opened up. Not a whole lot in all honesty, but it still would've been enough to get the Hyuuga off balance long enough for Karui to strike. With said girl now pulling out her buried blade from the ground, only to show that it was now coated by a rocky layer.

"Ah shit," Hanabi muttered as Karui proceed to slash the blade in her direction while being a few meters away, part of the rocky covering shooting off the blade and towards Hanabi as she barely dodged the small streaks of earth, proceeding to repeat the process as Karui kept shooting the rocky projectile at her, before the cloud ninja gather up whatever remnants of earth remained on her blade for a larger glump as she threw it at Hanabi with all her might.

Digging her feet into the ground, Hanabi made her stance, bringing as much chakra into her hands as she could while the large rock ball made its way towards her. Shooting one of her hands forward, Hanabi released another Vacuum Palm at the rocks, slowing it down immensely while Hanabi could see its structure weakening. And just when it was in front of her she shot her other palm forward in a precise jab, breaking through the rock as it broke apart around her hand, the recoil shooting her hand back as she lost her balance, the broken pieces of the rock flying past her.

Taking the chance, Karui ran forward with enough speed that the Hyuuga could react in time, her hands in a tiger seal as she smirked up at Hanabi, before slamming both her hands into the ground, "Earth Style: Cannon Pistol!"

Hanabi could see the chakra moving past Karui's hands and into the earth, the ground shaking beneath her as she saw its blue outline cover a rod of the earth before it proceeded to shoot out from the ground and into the Hyuuga's stomach.

"Gah!" Hanabi coughed out as she lost all the air in her lung, the force of the attack shooting her from the center of the arena towards the perimeter as she bounce and rolled off the ground like a rag doll, the wall of the arena stopping her as she coughed up a bit of blood, feeling a bit dazed from the attack while her entire body was shaking from pain, she could barely make out Karui running towards her.

* * *

"Hanabi!"

Naruto and his comrades gripped the rails in front of them as they looked down into the arena with fear and concern in their eyes, while the cloud team watched with a blank gaze. Both seeing the dust around the wall settle as Hanabi's form came into view, her head down as she tried to pick herself up, hand on the wall as she appeared to be breathing heavily. Barely seeming to take notice of the sprint Kauri was making towards her.

"Come on," Naruto muttered, he knew she could do this, she _had_ to do this!

* * *

In the stands a similar look of concern was entrenched in the Konoha 12, it was rare for a genin to use an elemental style, especially one that packed as much as a punch as that earth style. But still, they knew how much this meant to their two Hyuuga friends, one having a look of concern on his wide-eyed face, clenching one of his fist. while Hinata looked much more fearful, a cold sweat of fear running down the side of her face.

Until she gritted her teeth and stood up, fist clenched at her sides as she shouted towards her sister with a voice that no one would've expected from her shy personality, causing the crowd around them to look strangely at her.

"Don't tell me that's all you got, Hanabi!"

* * *

Soreness, unfocused, nothing felt right at the moment for Hanabi. She couldn't think about what had just happened, she couldn't think about what was gonna happen. Her Byakugan was deactivated from her dazed state. She felt lost for a moment. Why was this happening? Why was she feeling so unfocused? It didn't happen during the rest of the exam, she'd been training for this moment for a month, so why couldn't she actually perform at her best?

 _'Cause I don't think my best is good enough,'_ A voice in her head stated, she also needed to perform better, she always needed to be better than what she was, in order to show the Elders and her Father she could succeed. But now that it was time to prove it, after proclaiming to than she could in front of the word, all those insecurities she's had for herself start to show. And she realized that she hadn't yet proven to herself, that she could succeed.

_"Don't tell me that's all you got, Hanabi!"_

_'Huh?'_

Looking up to the stands, Hanabi immediately saw her sister standing up as she continued to shout.

 _"You've already proven to us your the best! Now show everyone else you are!"_ Hinata encouraged, not caring about how those around her eyes her strangely, screw her shyness, right now she had to support her sister.

"Oh why can't she just stay quiet, words can't help you," Kauri grumbled as she continued her sprint towards Hanabi, chakra flowing through her sword as she prepared for a final slash at the Hyuuga, who seemed stunned for a moment as she continued to lean on the wall next to her, her head down while her bangs covered her face.

 _'It's her mistake'_ Karui though as she gave a diagonal slash with her blade, only to then give a look of confusion as the only thing that was cut was the wall in front of her. Looking around frantically, a drop of blood that fell in front of her face gave her an answer. Looking up the cloud ninja saw her opponent standing on the wall a few meters above her, her left arm having a cut that ran down the limb as blood seemed to pour out of it.

But what caught Karui's attention was the small smile the girl had on, the cut appearing not to have bothered her as she kept her relaxed stance, looking down at her. _'What the hell? What's with this Leaf Genin? Are they all just crazy?'_ Kauri though as she gripped her blade tightly once again, putting more of her chakra into the blade as she got ready to make another strike, feeling a bit pissed off by the look the Hyuuga was giving her.

And as she ran up those walls, Hanabi gave a smirk.

_'Thanks Hinata,'_

In her anger Karui gave a frontal slash to her opponent, her form seemed a bit sloppy, not as precise as her previous attacks, but the speed and power behind it more than made up for it. But it didn't faze Hanabi, as she felt like her hands moved without thought, the girl making no attempt to dodged the strike as it came for her. But as it swung down, both her open palms came at either side and with her Byakugan, she could see the consequences of Karui's attack. As though even more chakra was emitted into the blade, it wasn't distributed evenly, and she was gonna take advantage of that.

Just before the blade reached her chest, Hanabi's palms connected to two different parts of the blade, and with a small amount of chakra, she disrupted and blacked her opponent's flow. Two parts of the blade, were the chakra was uneven, she targeted them, and when she blocked off both parts, well, she ballooned the chakra in between, and it burst.

**_*snap*_ **

Kauri's eyes went wide as her blade broke apart in front of her. The broken metal swinging between her and Hanabi as her worlds seemed to go into slow-motion, her along with it. But not Hanabi, as the Hyuuga let her feet detach from the wall as she placed them under her, giving a powerful dropkick to her opponent as she forced the cloud ninja off the wall downwards. Hanabi backflipping back onto the wall as she watched her opponent fall to the ground, a cloud of dust kicking up from her landing.

But the heiress didn't drop her guard, as she saw her opponents chakra still flowing actively through her body, the dust dissipating around her as she looked up at the Hyuuga with rage in her eyes, blood running down her face as she got up, coughing a fit as she dropped her broken blade to the ground. And Hanabi knew she had to finish this quickly, her opponent was now in an all or nothing position, and that was always the most dangerous state an opponent could be.

Karui took a deep breath as she made some seals, Hanabi seeing her chakra flare up and flow in her body as she slammed both her hands on either side of her. Hanabi saw her chakra push into the ground, flowing under her as it shot straight down as the cloud ninja shouted, "Earth Style: Rising Uppercut!"

The earth under her right hand rose along with hers, covering her arm and hand as it was raised above her body. Her fist shooting up with a rocky covering as it trailed the right side of her body, giving her a light shield for her attack. And then, the ground beneath her shook, before rising up and shooting her body forward with it as it rose beneath her like a pillar, just large enough for her body to crunch on. Her sights set on the Hyuuga above her.

But Hanabi felt the world move slowly around her, a moment of clarity as she knew just what to do, and, she did a twirl, arms extended around her as her palms were open with some of her trailing blood shooting off her body, a drop landing on Karui's face as it almost blinding her for a moment before sliding off.. And after the first spin, she let her feet detach from the wall while her body continued to spin at an increasing rate. Karui barely seeing the light trails of blue that trailed behind the girl's hands, but they didn't matter, as she already reached her. And just as her rocky fist was about to land its mark against the Hyuuga's body, she stopped.

Karui blinked in confusion for a moment, before she saw the rock around her hand crack.

_'What!?'_

"Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation!" Hanabi shouted as she continued to spin, her body being surrounded in a rotating spherical blue aura that pushed against her opponent's attack. But unlike last time where she had no choice but to use this, now, she choose to use it.

Karui saw how more cracks continued to show along with her rocky arm, the force behind each crack racking her arm with pain. The winds that Hanabi's attack was creating pushing through her face as the blue sphere continued to come down, with her right under it.

And she could only mutter one word.

"Fuck,"

Hanabi's rotation broke through Karui's thin rocky layer, hitting the girls arm first before it proceeded to land on the rest of her body. Trapping the redhead between her own pillar, the rotating mass grinding her body into it. The force of the attack pushing her body through the pillar, cracking the structure as it fell apart beneath. And with one last push, her body was sent to the ground, a cloud of dust kicking up around her as Hanabi finished her rotation, landing below in front of her opponent.

The Hyuuga looked down at Karui, her body was covered in scars from her attack, her eyes closed as her arms and legs splayed outwards. Though the light movement of her chest confirmed she was still alive, Hanabi meanwhile panting in adrenaline and exhaustion, the effects of the battle finally having caught up with her as she hunched forward, a droplet of sweat falling from her face to the ground below.

The crowd was silent as they looked at the two contestants, Temari making her way over to them. Kneeling down for a moment to check on the condition of Karui, raising a hand up to signal the medical staff to bring a stretched over. Rising back up she extended an arm towards Hanabi before looking at the crowd.

"The Winner of the first match is Hanabi Hyuuga of the Hidden Leaf!" The Blonde declared, and as the world fell silent to Hanabi for a moment, it was soon replaced by the roar of cheers that were for her. The Hyuuga stood there for a moment, dazed as her head was pounding, she was looking at the crowd, yet she still couldn't believe what she was seeing. But, then her eyes landed on her sister, who gave her a bright smile as she clapped along with her friends. Hanabi turning her head around the arena as she saw similar looks on everyone else in the crowd, from Naruto and Konohamaru, to some leaf ninja, the kages as well, and, her own Father along with the elders.

She couldn't help the tired smile that came on her face, even with the beating pain coming from her left arm as she clutched it with her other, a small trail of blood running down the limb, even so, it didn't matter to her at the moment. What matter, was that she was proving herself, to the world.

* * *

"Oww, it stings"

"Only cause you keep fussing around, now kept still or you won't be able to watch the next battle before it finishes."

Hanabi only gave a grumble, flinching her eyes as Hinata dabbed the cut across her face with the cloth, the alcohol it was dyed in seeping into her wound and cleaning it, giving the girl a stinging sensation. The two were alone in the medical room she was given for herself, her opponent meanwhile placed in her own room. Hanabi had to admit, she suffered a lot more cuts than she realized in the battle. She was so focused on not getting a big one, she didn't notice all the small ones, well, on the bright side they didn't seem that bad, the only real alarming cut being the one she suffered on her left arm, which was already wrapped up by a bind of flexible long bandages.

But as Hinata went for one of the cuts on her leg. The sound of arguing from a bickering female and male voice enter their ears, getting closer and closer.

"Why are you dragging me! We're gonna miss Moegi's match! We have to cheer for her!" The male voice complained

But the female voice quickly countered, "Her teammates can cheer and support her, you though, need to support your's."

The sound of a groan was heard next, followed by, "Hanabi's strong enough to be fine by herself," Said girl felt a tinge of a blush from those words, only to then give a frown as the male voice continued, "Besides she won, not like I have to console her for a loss,"

"You're going in there to congratulate her whether you like it or not!" The female voice shouted, irritation in her voice. But before they could hear the male one responded, the door flung open, with a familiar short blonde being thrown across the room.

"AHHH!" Naruto screamed before hitting his back against the wall, falling to the floor with a thud and groan as he got up, looking at the perpetrator with an annoyed glare, "What the hell Nee-chan?!"

Naruko only gave a huff with a roll of her eyes, she didn't throw him _that_ hard, besides it was his fault he made a scene when she started dragging him to the infirmary, by first being embarresed by her hug when she saw hi, and than attempting to stop her from bringing him here, "Next time, listen to your big Sis," And with those words she proceeded to grab a stunned Hinata, pulling her away from an equally stunned Hanabi, "Now talk with your teammate!" Naruko ordered, pulling Hinata out of the room before she could even speak.

_***SLAM!** _

The sound of the door shutting echoed in the room, Hanabi and Naruto flinching from the sound, Hanabi giving a sigh as she accepted the reality of the situation as she turned to face Naruto, "You ok?" She asked with a tone of concern.

Said Blonde was picking himself up as he rubbed his back, "Yeah, I'll be fine," He replied, Hanabi giving a low smile as she heard him mutter about getting some sort of revenge on his Sister as he turned to face her, a bit of concern on his face as he saw bandages, "What about you? You looked to have a couple of bad cuts, especially the one on your arm."

Hanabi kept up her smile as she looked at said arm, its skin covered by the bandages that wrapped around it, the girl still feeling a bit of soreness as her body was still recovering from its effects, "I'll take a bit to heal but other than that I should be fine to fight by the next round," She explained, "So, how's Moegi doing against that blonde cloud ninja?"

Naruto gave a sigh, "I'm not sure, my sister dragged me away before it started, but she looked really worried," Naruto replied, head hanging a bit low and Hanabi did the same.

But than as they looked down, Naruto caught something on Hanabi out of the corner of his eye, "You still have a couple of cuts," He pointed out, pointing to the run he saw through the rip of her clothing at her hip, Hanabi looking at it as well as a small look of surprise came on her face, "Oh, guess Hinata wasn't able to get that one before your sister dragged her out," Hanabi said nonchalantly, turning to the medkit by her side as she was about to clean that herself.

But Naruto wasn't gonna allow that, "Nah, let me do, you should still get some more rest before the next battle," He believed as he went to her side, taking the medical supplies himself as Hanabi looked at him with a confused and skeptical look.

"I thought you wanted to see Moegi's match?" She questioned, the blonde proceeding to clean the cloth with a bit of alcohol.

"Well, like my sister said, her teammates will be there to cheer for her," He replied before letting a low smile come onto his face, "Besides, this is kinda helping me to calm my nerves, now sit still, I'm not exactly a pro at this," Naruto stated as he finished getting the other supplies ready, ignoring the look Hanabi was giving him by his last statement.

"Well that just fills me with _so_ much confidence in your abilities," She replied with a sarcastic tone, only to then wince as she felt the alcohol dipped clothe dap against her wound, the Hyuuga gritting her teeth a bit as Naruto cleaned her other wounds.

On the outside of the door, Naruko smirked to her Best-Friend, "See, told you it would lift their spirits,"

Hinata gave a defeated sigh to the blonde, "You could've at least given me a warning," She berated.

But the twin-tailed blonde's smile only widened, "Come on Hinata, you and I both know that's not my style."

Hinata sighed again, but a small smile appeared on her face as well, "No, no it's not."

* * *

Naruto made his way down the desolate halls as his lone footsteps, his sister went back up to the stands, giving him a quick good luck as she left, while Hanabi stayed in the infirmity to talk with Hinata, the older girl not even looking at him as he made out, not that he blamed her, he almost couldn't look at her as well.

But as he made his way past one of the connecting halls, he didn't notice the figure leaning on the wall in it, giving a disappointed click of her tongue as he walked past.

"My my Naruto, walking past your Mother after not seeing her for almost a month?"

Naruto immediately turned to the connecting hallway, seeing his Mother giving him a warm smile as she was clad in her jonin uniform, one of her legs bend as its foot was flat against the wall, her vest zipped down a bit to expose part of her cleavage.

"Kaasan!" Naruto exclaimed as ran up to her, about to hug her before she gave him stern look and held a hand up, causing him to stop in place and look at her with a look of confusion.

Kushina continued to stare down at him with a stern look, noticing Naruto begin to sweatdrop as he starting thinking he had done something wrong, oh no did Hinata tell her about yesterday? Oh god.

But his fears were soon thrown aside as Kushina's face cracked into a grin as she gave a chuckle, "Oh I'm just playing with you, come give your mom a hug!"

The two immediately embraced each other, bright smiles on their faces as they enjoyed each other's warmth that they've missed for the past month as Kushina let out a coo of enjoyment as she wrapped her arms around his back while he wrapped his around her waist.

"So how have you been this last month?" She asked, keeping the embrace as she started to smother her face on top of his hair affectionately, dotting it with affectionate kisses, she needed to know how her son handled himself, that and she wanted to make sure Jiraiya didn't take him out for any, extracurricular activities.

But she only gave a brief gasp of surprised, followed by a series of giggles as he proceeded to tighten his hold around her waist and lift her up while pressing their stomachs together, "It was great Kaasan! I learned some new techniques and even bumped into Kakashi and Sasuke Nii-san!" He exclaimed.

Kushina gave a chuckle from his enthusiasm, and was a bit surprised at how his hands didn't seem to wander anywhere other than keeping a hold of her waist, he seemed fine just being affectionate like this. "Well, then I can't wait to see those techniques in action," Kushina replied as Naruto put her down.

Said blonde having a smirk on his face as he looked up at her, "Me too Kaasan, I can't wait to show off who I am to the world!"

Kushina smirked down at him, hand on her hip as she proceeded to lean down to eye level with him, faces close but neither one flinching, well, at least until Naruto did as Kushina quickly gave him a light peck on the lips, a mixture of motherly love and a sultry smile on her face as she straightened back up, "Well then Naruto, good luck,"

And with that she turned around, her sandals clicking against the floor as she started to walk away with a sway of her wide hips, before stopping and turning her head back at him, "Oh, and by the way, Naruto. If you win the whole tournament, then get ready for the reward of your life." She told him in a husky tone, eyes narrowing as she gave a slap to her legging covered ass, the smack ripping across the fabric as her firm cheeks jiggle just a bit on display for him. Kushina inwardly laughing at his stunned look as she gave him a wink, before disappearing with a woosh.

Making his way out of the hall, Naruto found himself back in the contestants rooms, seeing just Konohamaru and Udon there, the other cloud Ninja appearing to have left to check on his teammate, while the other two leaf genin appeared to be gripping the railing tightly while looking down, Naruto proceeding to hear the sound of an explosion with a large plume of smoke coming into his view as it rose up.

Quickly making his way to view the battle, Naruto was shocked to see, nothing. He and everyone else couldn't see anything as the smoke seemed to cover part of the battlefield near the rod. Only to than start to dissipate, revealing the trees in cover in its area, and than, its center was gone, showing a familiar bob-style hair blonde that stood over an unconscious Moegi, the blonde appearing to be mostly unscathed as she re-sheathed her blade while she gave a light pant, Moegi however, looked wrecked, cuts and bruises littering her body, her clothing rip and torn that showed just how much effort she put in.

Temari gave a look to the two, before giving a sigh, "The winner of this battle is Samui from the Hidden Cloud!" She declared, extending her arm to present said girl as the cloud gave a low cheer, a respectable response, but not sounding anywhere near as boisterous as from Hanabi's win. Naruto wishing he could've actually seen the battle to know what happened. He would've asked Konohamaru or Udon, but both appeared to have a heavy look on their face as they looked at their unconscious teammate.

 _'Another time,'_ Naruto decided as he looked on the field once again, seeing a pair of medics bring out a stretcher while Samui calmly looked back, they were so focused on the outcome, that they and most of the other people in attendance didn't notice the shape of the trees.

But Ku did, and as she laid back inside of her little landscape, relaxing as she viewed the outside world through Naruto's eyes, she smirked as she made her conclusion. Underneath that girl, Moegi as she recalled, were lines that extended out to the trees near her. And, parts of their outer layer had part of their bark sticking out, appearing to be paused as they were just in the middle of transforming.

 _'To think, that girl knew wood-style,'_ Ku chuckled, my was the world full of surprises, must've been why she felt that sudden spike of chakra from the Cloud girl. She must've realized that something bad was gonna happened to her if she didn't stop the match quickly.

 _'Still, she's got a ways to go if she wants to even hold a candle to Hashirama,'_ Ku thought.

* * *

The next fight between Udon and Omoi from the Hidden Cloud didn't fare much better for the Hidden Leaf, Udon did his best, and put up a fair fight, even catching his opponent in his snot jutsu prison for a bit, landing a good number of hits. However, he was simply just outclassed by the cloud genin, and one good, fast strike with some lighting release took him down.

"And the Winner of the 3rd match is Omoi from the Hidden Cloud!" Temari announced, the crowd giving their cheers as they waited for the next battle to start.

Giving a sigh, Konohamaru looked at his two other Leaf comrades, Hanabi having joined just as the third match was starting, "I'm gonna go check on him," He said, a smile on his face but a solemn tone hidden underneath. The Sarutobi jumping over the railings and to the arena below as he went to go and check on his teammate. Naruto and Hanabi each gave each other knowing look, Konohamaru was a bit down, watching both his teammates fall hard in battle.

It must've been weighing hard on his mind, especially as it would seem neither would be able to cheer him on as they would be in the infirmary.

* * *

Higher up, the Kage waited for the next battle to commence, with the Raikage currently giving a chuckle.

"I that puts the score at 1 to 2 in my favor," Raikage stated with a smirk as he continued to look down, referring the number of battles won between the leaf and cloud shinobi.

Minato though, kept his smile as he looked at the arena, "Yes, but they were all good battle, besides in the end this has been a good experience for all the participates. And the next few battles are where we'll get a true spectacle."

The Raikage leaned back in his seat, "Ah, yes if I'm not mistaken, the next battle is between the Grandson of the Third Hokage, and your son, correct?" He asked the spiky yellow-hair Kage.

Said Kage proceeding to give a slight chuckle, "Yes, that is correct, though this has actually been my Son's first exam, while this is the Third's second, so he has the advantage of experience on his side."

"Well, either way, I'm sure this will be a highlight of the tournament," The Raikage stated as the three Kage saw Naruto start to walk out of the Participants box.

* * *

After a good luck from Hanabi, the Blonde made his way down the stairs and through the halls. Passing Omoi as they were halfway through, the two giving each other a respectful nod as they went to their destination. But just as she was about to turn the corner and go down the last hall to the outside, a figure stood there, appearing to have been waiting for him as they held their hands on their chest. Looking at him as they notice his presence.

"Hinata?" Naruto questioned, blinking to make sure it was actually her.

But she only gave a low smile in response, "Hello, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widen, oh shit, was she here to scold to him for yesterday, granted he did probably deserve some more of it, but still, couldn't it wait till after the tournament. Well, it's not like he didn't have something else to say.

"I'm really sorry about yesterday Hinata! It was disrespectable, unthinkable, and downright disgusting for me to have done that! The embarrassment you felt was all my fault! I know I can never make it up to you but know that I will try!" Naruto exclaimed with as much energy he could muster, hands clenched at his sides as he bowed down, eyes closed as he gave his apology.

But Hinata just sighed from it as she turned to face him, "Its ok Naruto, I'm not here for some apology over that," Hinata replied, surprising Naruto as he opened his eyes and peak up at her, noticing how she looked a bit away as her body faced him.

"Really?" Naruto asked, shock on his face as he noticed her clenched her the hand on her chest more.

"Yes," Hinata confirmed, "I'm more older, experience, and smarter than you. I should've know the moment I entered that spring something was off. Your sister is my best friend, probably closer to me than anyone else ever has been, so I shouldn't have fooled by that transformation, especially when you weren't acting like her."

Naruto flinched a bit at those words, especially as he believed a good chunk of the blame still lied with him, but also, he remember, something that Hinata pointed out yesterday in the springs.

"When I looked like my sister, you said something about a scar," Naruto said, catching Hinata off guard as she looked at him, seeing the confused look on his face as he then looked at her, "What did you mean?"

Hinata sighed as she knew what he was talking about, the scar, a scar that came from one of the hardest battles of Naruko's life, it wasn't truly her place to tell, but still, "Do you remember that important, S-class mission Naruko and many of her friends had to go on 4 years ago, the one which landed them all in the hospital?" Hinata questioned, seeing Naruto eyes go wide. He remembered rushing into that hospital, seeing his Sister all bandaged up as she did her best to calm him with a smile while he cried into her stomach. That probably was when he truly realized just how dangerous being a ninja could be.

Continuing on, Hinata said, "She had a very tough battle, one that left, a scar. It never truly healed, one that she even told me she never wanted you to see."

Naruto eyes widened, a scar she never wanted him to see, how bad must it have been for her to do that. And his face couldn't help but fall a bit. Seeing this, Hinata walked up to him, the blonde not even noticing until he felt a pair of hands on both his shoulders, looking up he saw Hinata smiling down at him with a warm smile.

"That's something you'll have to wait for her to talk about herself, but, until then."

Hinata leaned down, eyes closing as she got eye level with him. Naruto's view going into slow motion as he felt still, not able to move as Hinata's face got closer to him. Her hand cupping his chin and holding it steady, as her lips pressed against his.

Naruto's eyes widen as he felt a bit tense up, his brain almost frying from what was happening. Her lips felt, soft, and even though she didn't press that hard, he could feel so many feeling trying to be conveyed in it. Not to mention, it felt, sort of familiar. But, he couldn't think of it any longer, as the kiss only lasted for a moment, even so, that moment was an eternity for the two as Hinata pulled away. Her lips in a smile as she held a blush as bright as his, Hinata opening her eyes to look at him as she held her hands behind her back.

"Good luck, Naruto." She told him.

Naruto meanwhile was barely able to process those words in his dazed face, the only thing on his vision being her angelic face as she continued to smile at him. And then, he hugged her, surpassing the Hyuga as the side of his head landed on her chest, but it wasn't out of perversion, it was in affection, and Hinata returned the hug as well. The two embracing each other for what only lasted a few seconds, but to them, felt like days.

"Hey, Hinata,"

The Hyuuga kept her grip on him as she replied, "Yes?" Eyes still closed as she enjoyed the moment.

She heard Naruto give a cough as he seemed anxious to say something, but was able to speak it right after, "I was wondering when all this is over, and we're back in the Leaf, would you want to, want to..."

Hinata smirked as she heard Naruto stuttered, "Want to what?" She teased, her shyness being thrown away as she felt at peace.

Naruto gulped, Hinata feeling the shake in his arms before he settled down, "Would you like to go out! A night with just the two of us!?"

Hinata felt he blush on her face come back in full force, but embarrassment didn't come as well. Looking down she saw Naruto looking at her with anxious eyes, anticipating her answer as he feared for the worse. But the Hyuuga only smiled down at him lovingly.

"I would love to," She answered, feeling her Heart flutter before giving off a series of giggles as Naruto unwrapped his arms from the hug and jump up excitedly, hands in the air as a bright smile was plastered on his face.

"Just you wait, Hinata! After I win this tournament! I'll make sure we'll have the best time of our life!" Naruto exclaimed as he gave her his trademark grin and thumbs up pose before running off out into the arena for his battle. Leaving the Hyuuga by herself, Hinata making sure he was out of range before exhaling a long breath. Holding her breath she felt her heart racing exponentially, its beats ringing in her ear, but she couldn't help but smile at what cause ot.

Out of view of the two, however, a certain Blonde couldn't stop the smile on her face. Naruko giving a laugh as he heard her Brother's enthusiastic words. She heard the whole thing, and while part of her was mad that Naruto was in the women's bathhouse yesterday and almost traumatized Hinata, the two seemed to have made up. And that kiss between the two. Ohh, as their Sister and best friend, she couldn't help but feel happy for the two. But, another part of her made her feel uneasy. Naruto now knew about her scar, a scar she's never let him seen. Not for how it looked, but for how she got it, and the hardships it belonged to.

 _'Come on Naruko, you should be happy. You may not want him to know, but he'll find out one day, and, as his Sister, you need to be ready for that day.'_ Naruko thought as she heard Hinata start the walk off the Blonde giving herself a grin as she got her thoughts straightened out. She would talk about the scar with Naruto eventually, but until that time, he could wait.

* * *

Naruto held a hand up to shield his eyes from the sun rays as they adjusted, the sound of the crowd keeping a low state as they waited patiently for the next match to start. Naruto seeing Udon being stretched off into the medical wing as Konohamaru was at the center, and even though Naruto could see a smile on the Sarutobi's face, he could tell, even from this distance, it was a forced one.

Making his way to the center, the two Leaf ninja gave each other a nod as Temari stood between them. Giving them each a passing glance as she waited for a nod of understanding from both of them, each giving her one as she closed her eyes for a moment before stepping back.

Naruto could feel the many eyes on the two of them, from his mother, to his father, to even Jiraiya, who he didn't see was currently standing next to Kakashi, as many of the leaf ninja watched the two Genin with a bit of excitement, wondering how this battle between the relatives of Kages would go down.

* * *

"Where's Naruko? She's about to miss Naruto's match." Ino questioned as she and the rest of the group looked down, all feeling a bit excited about the match. They have all known Naruto as long as they've known Naruko, and they were all very interested as to what he could do now.

Sakura gave her friend a look of side-eye as she replied, "She said she wanted to go check on something quick, though now that I've noticed, Hinata's not here as well."

But before the group could look any further, a familiar blonde walked down the steps to join up with them.

"Hinata will be here in just a bit," Naruko informed them as she took her seat next to Sakura as she leaned back, looking down into the arena as she saw Naruto and Konohamaru start to face off, any second now and the battle would begin, "And besides, you didn't think I'd miss a second of this?"

The others in the group chuckled, as they looked down at the arena, and when Temari took a step back, raising her hands up as she announced the two participants names, Naruko felt her heart skip a bit as Temari shouted her next word.

_"Begin!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if you guys felt like that first fight was a bit short, didn't want to stretch it out to much but wanted it to be interesting enough, as for the other two fights, decided to keep them off-screen as they weren't that important, though I did decide to reference Moegi's wood style for the heck of it. That's right, she actually know wood style, its canon, look it up. Also I hope the interactions were nice enough. And as for Konohamaru vs Naruto, been building this battle for a while, and trust me when i say its pretty long, so get ready for that, tried to show off both their power. Well, till next time, later!


	16. Relatives of Prodigies

_"Begin!"_

The first thing that was heard was the clashing of metal as the two Genin stare each other down, their kunai clashing with each other as they were in a deadlock, neither currently able to outpower the other. As if they had the same thought, each made a familiar seal, a puff of smoke appearing next to each of them, a clone of each of them jumping towards their opponents original. The clones decking the originals with a hard punch, separating them from their deadlock before the originals grabbed their kunai and slashed at the clones, dissipating them.

Experience let Konohamaru act first as he immediately jumped back, throwing a shuriken at Naruto as the Blonde rolled out of its trajectory, before hearing another one whiz throw the air as he barely dodged it as well, jumping back to gain some distance from the Sarutobi. But when he saw the several pairs of shuriken Konohamaru held in his hands, Naruto thought it may have been better to have tried to charge him instead.

Konohamaru smirked as he threw the projectiles as he proceeded to make a seal, "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Konohamaru shouted, the several projectiles he threw now becoming dozens as they spun right towards Naruto.

Naruto didn't have time to be stunned by the technique as copy the seal Konohamaru made, summoning a dozen of his own clones as they all huddled towards the original, shielding him as they all threw their own projectiles at the barrage Konohamaru had. The clash stopping the attacks on both sides as two of Naruto's clones were taking out by a couple of strays, while the rest immediately charged, the original Naruto blending in with them as a couple surrounded Konohamaru while the others went to blitz him.

Konohamaru through, decided to use quality over quantity as he barely was able to parry the first strikes of the clones, finding an opening as he jumped up on top of them into the air. Before summoning his own two clones. The two clones grabbed each of the originals hands and throw him back toward the ground like a bullet, the original Konohamaru taking down one of Naruto's clones before they could react.

The other Naruto clones were about to give chase, before they heard the sound of loud inhaling could be heard. Looking up, the Naruto's saw the two Konohamaru clones taking a deep breath, before spewing out a stream of a dark substance that combined to cover all of them in some sort of smoke-screen. But the smell of it was what concerned Naruto.

_'Gunpowder!'_ Naruto realized, eyes going wide as he had a good idea of what Konohamaru was gonna try next, and it didn't look good for him.

The Sarutobi meanwhile, had already made his way out of the smoke, before grabbing a pair of unique blades from his pouch as he held them in each hand, _'Sorry Naruto,'_

* * *

Up in the stands, Ino was the first to comment on the blades as a look of shock rang on her face, "Are those Chakra Blades?!" She exclaimed, she could recognize the signature blade of her Sensei from a mile away, but still, when did Konohamaru learn to use them.

Everyone in the group, Hinata included as she already rejoined them and except for Choji, who continued to eat his snack and look at the battle, turned to Shikamaru. The Nara clansman giving a sigh before giving the explanation he knew they were all waiting for, "He asked me to call Asuma sensei to get here a before the tournament, apparently Konohamaru has already been learning the technique for a while, but couldn't use it in the exam yet without risking a heavy toll. So he's been finalizing it with Asuma-sensei before the exam."

The group nodded at his explanation. Naruto giving a bit of a huff from the information, "So that's what he was doing when he said he had to train on something else, well he could've told me something!" She complained, ready to give the Sarutobi a head smack in the future. But then she remembered something, _how_ , Asuma used those blades, and with all this ash, and Naruto inside of it.

"Oh my god, Naruto!" She shouted in fear while her hands held her head, realizing just what was about to happen.

* * *

Konohamaru knew a move like this could be lethal with anyone else, but he knew just how impressive Naruto and Naruko's regeneration was, even if he didn't know why they were that insane, maybe it had to do with their Uzumaki bloodline? Anyways, the Sarutobi proceed to click his two chakra blades together, a spark being produced on the light stream of ash he was producing that led into the larger cloud. The spark igniting and blowing up the gunpowder as it traveled for the cloud.

But just before the rest of it ignited, Naruto, and many of his clones jumped above the smoke, getting as high as they could as some of the clones let the others use them as footstools to get higher up. But when the explosion below them ignited at the blast force and fire shot at them, the remaining clones shielded the original as they were engulfed by the blast. The force shaking the earth in the arena as the blast sound rang through everyone's' ear.

"GAAAAHHH!" Naruto grunted as the blast force engulfed his body, his clones dissipating as they shielded him, still, while it felt like he as melting for a moment as the wind blew through his body and almost burned his eyes, it was a much better than if he had actually taken the full blast. But, he was now, the smoke produced by the explosion, he could use to his advantage as he decided it was time to try out his new technique.

Konohamaru, waited for the smoke to clear as a drop of sweat fell from his forehead, the heat emitting from the blast zone making his whole body feel a bit fuzzy. But he didn't have time to rest as he noticed the smoke start to move rapidly, before something shot out towards him.

_'A chain?!'_ Konohamaru realized as he barely rolled out of the way, only to then widen his eyes as a wave motion formed in the chains as its side swung towards him. Konohamaru barely able to flow his chakra through his blades, their edges coated in the blue energy as he shot out a double swing towards the strange colored chains, hoping to break them as they were about to clash.

Only for his blades to be stopped, Konohamaru having a look of shock as the chakra he felt flow through the blade disappear for a moment, their flow disrupted as only the blades metal coating grinded against the chains. But the rest of the chains outer length proceeded to wrap around his body, trapping him as he couldn't do anything but struggled, but whatever these things were made of, it didn't feel natural as he felt the chains swing. His body was pulled along with it as he was dragged across the ground before being flung several meters away, his body bouncing against the hard dirt as he rolled to a stop. The Sarutobi being covered in bruises as he looked towards the smoke, seeing what he could now recognize as golden chains, with a dim color start to pull back into it, its length shorting before disappearing into the cloud.

_'Ok, I was not expecting that.'_ Konohamaru thought as he got up, ready to continue the battle

* * *

Kushina's eyes widened in shock, he mouth agape in an O shape from what she saw. At first, she was a bit impressed from both sides with the clash, and was even giving Konohamaru a few points for his trick. But, those chains, she couldn't remember how long its been since she saw them, or use them for. And it came as a shock that her son was now using them, even if they were the weaker version.

_'Than again, I didn't think their Uzumaki bloodline was strong enough to use the chains like this.'_ She thought, her mouth turned into a smirk.

_'Ohhh, even if he doesn't win, I am still giving him one hell of a reward.'_ Kushina decided as she continued to watch the battle, maybe she overreacted to letting Jiraiya train him, if he came back with results like this, then who was she to complain?

* * *

"What the hell was that!?" Ino shouted in shocked, the rest of the group having a similar look of shock on their faces, more so than others. They could all tell those weren't ordinary chains, so the question was, what and when the hell did Naruto learn to do that.

Neji looked intensely at the field, veins beating around his eyes signaling the activation of his Byakugan, "Those chains were made out of pure chakra," He commented, a look of amazement on everyone's faces as they learned of the fact.

"Pure chakra, that's insane!" Kiba exclaimed, to materialize an object out of chakra wasn't unheard of, to make it out of it was another, but for it to be pure chakra, well, that was something you could only expect as a special technique from clans.

And they all proceeded to look at Naruko, who seemed to have the least shocked look on her face, until she noticed them staring at her, "Hey I'm just as surprised as you guys are! I barely know anything about those chains!" She defended as she raised her hands up on both sides.

Ok, she had somewhat of an idea of what those chains were, kinda. She knew they were related to her Uzumaki bloodline, but she very rarely saw them, the only time she could actually recall being when her mom help her train the Nine-tails when they were having a Mother and Daughter trip, through things got a bit out of hand that Kushina went inside her mindscape and had the chains restrain the Kyuubi inside of her, apparently it was part of her seal and used as defense in case things got bad. Still, that was also when she learned she could reach the 5-tailed state with some control, some being the keyword.

_'Not that I would wanna use it, talk about a bad skin burn.'_ Naruko shuddered as she remembered the first time she went into that state, her skin was sensitive for weeks, and that was after Sakura healed her, "The only thing I know is that they're related to the Uzumaki, but I wouldn't even know where to begin on how to actually explain them, cause I don't really know what they are, let alone how you would train to use them."

But a voice decided to join in on the conversation, a voice the group hasn't heard in a long time.

"He learned from a relative." The voice told them as the sound of feet walked down, the group immediately turning their eyes to it as they proceeded to widen.

"Sasuke!"

"Sasuke-Kun!"

The Uchiha looked at them with a small smile, hand up to wave as he was clad in a similar attire as Kakashi's except instead of a vest he wore a grey thin cloak which proudly showed his Uchiha heritage on its back, his katana strapped to the side as he sat down next to Naruko, Sakura on the other side of her as his two teammates gave him a look of disbelief.

Naruko was the first to speak as she smirked at the Uchiha, before looking back at the arena, "You said he learned from a relative, who?" She questioned, a tone of seriousness in her voice.

"Another Uzumaki," Sasuke stated, "They met while he was out with Jiraiya, she's part of a group me and Kakashi have been collecting."

This caused some of the group to look at the Uchiha with a suspicious face, group? Another Uzumaki? What has he and Kakashi been doing? But the Uchiha gave a small smirk as he watched the battle, seeing the smoke around Naruto start to clear up, as he gave a quick look with his sharingan saw what Naruto was about to do next.

"But that's not all he learned," Sasuke told them, the rest of the group focusing their attention back onto the field.

* * *

**_'_** _Ok, I may have used a bit too much chakra there, still don't have as much control over that thing as I hoped,'_ Naruto thought as he huffed a bit, the smoke clearing enough for him to see the silhouette of Konohamaru as the two of them panted a bit, Naruto a bit more so, _'God I used a bit more chakra than I needed to, I may be around half my supply right now, can't use my jutsu carelessly, so, I'll bring in a partner.'_

Naruto smirked as he started making the seals he learned during his training, ready to show off the combos he and Gamakichi learned together as he slammed down his hand, "Summoning Jutsu!"

The dark grey remnants of smoke were blown away as a white puff of it now replaced, and everyone in the audience could see the black silhouette of something inside of it, next to Naruto's, the smoke quickly started to disappear.

"Huh? Where am I?" The toad from inside the smoke said, its voice immediately alerting Naruto to something being off as he turned to look at his summoning, but instead of seeing Gamakichi's orange skin, the color he saw, was yellow.

_'Oh no,'_ Naruto thought, as the smoke cleared up, revealing his summoning to the crowd, its blue vest, size, and being a toad made it look similar to Gamakichi, but Naruto had no idea who this was, and apparently, his summoning didn't have a clue either, as it looked at him with a blank stare, not know what to think as it noticed it was in an arena.

The yellow toad looked around, looking up at the stands with a confused and amazed look, "Whoa," It breathed as he examined the crowd, the spectators doing the same to him, along with Konohamaru as he realized he now had to fight two different opponents.

_'Why did no one ever teach me a summoning?'_ Konohamaru thought as he watched the confused looking toad continued to scan the stadium, also noticing Naruto seemed to have a look of disbelief, and fear.

But as Naruto began to have a mini freakout in his mind, he noticed something on the toads back, _'A note?'_ Naruto realized, he was about to take the tape off, but the sound of a surprised shout caught his and everyone else's attention.

_"Gamatatsu!?"_ Naruko screamed, a clear look of surprise and fear on her face as she was standing up, hands clenching her hair as she stared at the yellow toad.

Gamatatsu immediately recognized the voice, as a look of happiness flooded his face, a smile spreading across his bubbly face as he turned to Naruko, the blonde tailed bombshell immediately going tense as she realized what the toad was about to do, especially when she saw his legs bend.

_"Wait! Wait! Don't jump up here!"_ She pleaded with a shout, arms waving side to side in a motion for the toad to stop, but it seemed as though Gamatatsu didn't hear, or care as he proceeded to jump up. The force of his legs creating a crater in the ground beneath him as he leaped towards the stands. Naruto, and even Konohamaru putting their hands up to shield their face from the blast of wind produced from the jump.

They were both evidently surprised by the toad's strength, Naruto more so, _'I don't think Gamakichi was even half this strong,'_ The Blonde thought as he saw the Toad cling onto the wall in front of Naruko's group, the sound of shrieks and screams from the nearby audience filling the stands.

But what Naruto noticed was the paper he previously saw attached to the toad's back now floating back down, appearing to have fallen off as Naruto caught it in his hand. Deciding to read the contents to try and see if it gave him some answers, and also with everyone else preoccupied with Gamatatsu's current location, he could take the chance.

_"Yo, Naruto! Gamakichi here, and well, how do I explain this? Well, turns out I kinda got to do something important today, trust me when I say, I had no choice! But, I also know your big tournament is today! So, I got my little brother to help! Now, I know he may seem a bit, uhh, dim-witted. But trust me, he's really powerful, even more than me! So good luck! I hope you win!"_

Naruto gave a blank stare at the note, before looking up at Gamatatsu, the scene he was making now being bigger as he noticed Naruko attempting to stop the Toad from coming fully into the stands as he already had one of his front hands in, the other one grabbing hold of the other side of the wall. His face turned to the side as he saw Naruko hands pushing its side, the toad not seeming to care while Naruko seemed to be struggling a bit, and that was something the blonde Genin saw very rarely.

But that didn't stop Naruto from crumbling the note in his hand, throwing it on the ground as he began the stomp on it, the spectators not looking at Gamatatsu giving the Genin a confused stare.

_'God damn it Gamakichi! I swear to god if I lose because you didn't show up and didn't even tell me I'm gonna serve you up to the lowest class sushi shop I know!'_ Naruto declared as he had a look of anger in his eyes, now what was the point of all those combo moves if he never practiced them with his brother!

* * *

But while Naruto seemed to be angry with the situation, his family, or parents seemed to get a chuckle out of it, Jiraiya laughing the most as he had to hold onto Kakashi to keep himself up, the masked sensei giving a chuckle inwardly himself, the situation reminded him of the types of things that could happen with Naruko when she was a Genin, and it brought back some good memories, that and this was certainly something you didn't see at most Chunin Exams.

Kushina had a similar reaction to Jiraiya as she clutched her stomach with one arm while the other one covered her mouth from the giggles she was producing, she didn't want Naruto to possible hear her, and with the reaction he was giving, this was probably not what he wanted.

Minato though, could only give an embarrassed smile and chuckle, considering who he was sitting next to. Though luckily for him, it seemed as though the two Kage were giving a positive reaction at the situation, Gaara having a clear smile on his face, while the Raikage gave a boisterous laugh, claiming how it has been ages since he's seen something that random on the battlefield.

Naruko though, wasn't amused at all as she was struggling to keep the toad from entering the stands, "Grrrrrr," She grunted, feeling embarrassed from the stares she was getting. And being a bit pissed at her friends at the moment for just sitting there and not helping her, a tick appearing on her forehead as she heard some of them chuckle, with one having the audacity to laugh.

_'I swear to god Kiba you will get the ass-kicking of your life if you don't shut up!'_ Naruko growled inwardly at the laughing Inuzuka, before realizing her momentary distraction caused her to lose a bit of footing at her sandals slid a few inches on the concrete as Gamatatsu now was even closer to getting inside.

_'How did he get even stronger!'_ Naruko thought as a bead of sweat slid down her cheek, she knew first hand he was stronger than the average toad his size, but this was ridiculous!

"Narukoooooo, why won't you let me in?" Gamatatsu whined as his face continued to ignore the side of his face being pushed against by the blonde's hands, not getting why she was doing this.

"Because you, aren't, suppose to be in here, your suppose to be down there!" Naruto replied with a groan.

"But you were the one who summoned me, right?" The Toad questioned.

"Except I wasn't the one who summoned you!" Naruko declared, causing the Toad to pause for a moment, giving Naruko a chance to talk with the Toad as she let go of his face, Gamatatsu turning to look at her as her with a confused look.

"Huh?" He said, tilting his head to the side as he stared at the blonde, who could only groan as she held her head.

"He was the one to summon you," Naruko stated as she pointed past the Toad and to the arena.

"Wait, that Konohamaru kid?" Gamatatsu asked, recognizing him from the handful of times he'd been present when Naruko summoned him.

But the blonde proceeded to groan again as she started to want to hit her head against the wall, "No, not him! The other one!" She clarified, Gamatatsu giving an _"Ohhhh,"_ as he stared at the participants, his superior sense allowing him to take in a good amount of detail even from this distance.

"Hey, he kinda looks like you," The Toad commented

Naruko actually chucked a bit this time, a look of pride coming on her face, "Yep, that's my little Brother." She told him, arms crossed as they stared down at the narrowed eye blonde, looking at the toad with an annoyed face, Naruto taking a moment to look at Konohamaru who just put his hands up defensively as he gave the blonde a look that read, _"I just wanna see how this plays out,"_

Gamatatsu gave another _"Ohhhh,"_ from Naruko's answer, before fully climbing over the railing and looking into the arena as though he was a spectator himself, Naruko staring at him wide-eyed in shocked before facepalming, why didn't she push him off when she had the chance? She asked herself as the Toad got comfortable.

"You can't be here!" Naruko scolded the Toad once more, who looked at her with a sorrow expression.

"But isn't your Brother gonna fight? I wanna see!" He argued.

"Except _YOU_ have to fight with him! He _SUMMONED_ you!" Naruko countered.

And Gamatatsu let at a large whine from those words, "But you know I don't like to fight," The Toad stated.

Now, Naruko was about to counter back that he didn't have a choice, but then she remembered how she would deal with these situations herself when she summoned him, and then, a smirk came on her face.

"Gamatatsu, how about this, if you go and help my brother, I'll-, get your favorite treats from your Ichiraku's!" She proposed, grinning deviously inwards as the Toad gave her a sparkly smile and excited face.

"Really?!" Gamatatsu asked, childlike excitement clear in his voice.

Naruko continued to smile and nod, "Yep," She confirmed, before pointing out back at the arena with a pose, "Now go and do your job!" She encouraged, turning her head slightly back to her friends to warn them that he was about to jump, and considering where he currently was, well, let's just say they didn't want to deal with any spectators getting injured with debris.

"You got it Naruko!" Gamatatsu shouted, quickly jumping out of the stands and back towards the arena, the concrete under his feet breaking and cracking into a small, wide crater as Naruko's friends blocked the flying debris from going off into the audience. Everyone watching the Toad as it landed near the center with a thud as a cloud of dust kicked up from his landing.

Naruko gave a sigh of relief as she sat back into the seats behind her, enjoying the extra room she had from all the other spectators moving out of the way from the little incident that just happened, her friends joining her as some gave a light chuckle from the strange event.

But Sakura had a bit of a worried face as she sat next to her friend/teammate, the blonde noticing her questioning look as she raised an eyebrow at the pink-hair medic. Giving her the silent permission to ask away.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to have bribed Gamatatsu like that? I mean, wouldn't that technically be you rigging the battle in Naruto's favor?" Sakura question, the other members of the group giving the blonde a questioning look as well. Was that really fair to do?

Naruko just scoffed from their looks as she waved a hand at them to calm their worries, "Well, first of all, that was to get him out of the stands before he made a real mess. Second, please, Gamatatsu may be ridiculously powerful, but he doesn't really know how to fight, it's just not what he likes," She told them.

"Than how do you use him?" Ino interjected.

"For training, reconnaissance, strength needs, etc, etc." Naruko counted off, "If it's not a direct fight, he's usually fine with helping out, if I do need him in a fight, then its usually just to get a solid hit against an enemy that would underestimate his strength, and promise him food."

But it still looked as though some of them weren't convinced as Naruko sighed and rolled her eyes. "It took me multiple training sessions with Gamatatsu to learn how to use him the best I can, his style is abysmal yet direct. But trust me when I say, there's no way Naruto would know how to work with him fast enough, especially if this is the first time he's summoned him, which it looks like." She explained, before a look of realization came on her face as well as disappointment, "Than again, this is probably his fault for using the Summoning carelessly like this, he should've practiced with it more to get who he wanted!" She declared, her current smug attitude making her feel like she could knock her Brother down a few pegs, if he did win and become a Chunin, well, she didn't want to be treated as equals with him, at least not yet. She _was_ his big Sister after all,

But Sasuke felt the need to interject his teammate's comments as he leaned forward, "Except he has been practicing the summoning, the Toad he was summoning seemed to have a good relationship with him, they worked pretty well together." He defended, giving a slight smirk as he decided to knock his own teammate down a few pegs, "Besides, how many times have you used the summoning and didn't get who you wanted?"

Naruto's eyes immediately widened as her body tensed up in embarrassment from the call out, her friends giving her an annoyed glare.

"Oh look, the battle about to start back up!" She pointed out, hoping that it would stop their glares, proving successful as they went back to watching the battle. Naruko sinking into her seat as she gave Sasuke a case of side-eyed, to which he only responded by giving a light chuckle before focusing back on the battle below.

Naruko crossing her arms and muttering a bit annoyed as she watched the battle, before leaning to her side and whispering for a favor to Sakura. The pink-hair teammate giving a nod before quickly excusing herself.

* * *

Naruto and Konohamaru had to put their hands up to shield their eyes from the dust that was blown up from Gamatatsu landing, each hearing the crack of the earth beneath the summoning. Gamatatsu kept his posture for a moment, still as its blank face looked at Konohamaru, he and Naruto both feeling a change in the toad as Konohamaru could feel a sweat drop down his face. As though he was now some sort of prey, and this toad was now a predator.

Konohamaru's eyes shot wide as Gamatatsu's back legs extended in one motion, the crater he had under him enlarging as his body shot right towards Konohamaru. The Sarutobi was barely able to jump out of the way as the Toad's body was like a blur as it past where he was standing and headed towards the wall, the sound of concrete breaking signaling his landing. But just as Konohamaru turned his head to look at the summoning, he was barely able to duck as its body was already just a few feet from his as it shot to him.

_'Oh, this is gonna suck,'_ Konohamaru thought as he knew he had to do something to distract that toad or risk making a mistake. So he quickly summoned a pair of clones. And when he turned to the Toad, he saw a confused look on its face as it didn't seem to know which one was the real one. Konohamaru giving a smirk as he threw down a smoke bomb, before all versions of him jumped away in a different direction.

"Uhh, hey, what am I supposed to do?" Gamatatsu ask as he turned to Naruto with a confused expression, the genin inwardly sighing before taking out a kunai as he looked at the Konohamaru's dispersing, he could've even the numbers if he wanted to, but he didn't want to waste any unnecessary chakra for now.

"Don't stop trying to get him, you don't have to hit'em, just keep them from fighting back!" Naruto told the toad, Gamatatsu nodding in understanding as it rushed at one of the Konohamaru's, not giving the Genin a chance to fight back as he kept trying the dodge the Toad as it zipped around him like a blur.

Naruto had to admit, while he would've greatly preferred having Gamakichi here to use their combos, Gamatatsu wasn't half bad considering this was the first time they were working together. And in this fight, he had to make do with what he got as the Blonde ran towards the two other Konohamaru, the Sarutobi pair nodding at each other as they charged at Naruto as well, each brandishing their own pair of chakra blades.

Naruto was just about to clash with one of them, only to give a surprised gasp as the Konohamaru jumped over him, running towards the blitzing Gamatatsu and the overwhelmed Konohamaru.

_'They're gonna try and double team him and take him out? Huh?'_ Naruto realized as he was about to throw his kunai at the Konohamaru, only to duck as he saw a swing come for his face. The Uzumaki proceeding to try and sweep at the other Konohamaru's feet. To which he jumped over before bringing his feet together as he dropkicked Naruto. The Blonde holding his arms up to block the blow as he was sent rolling a few feet backward.

Stopping himself, Naruto had his hand extended outwards on the ground as he gave the Konohamaru a smirk, confusing the Sarutobi for a moment before hearing the sizzling of something. Looking down the Konohamaru saw the kunai Naruto was using planted into the ground, a paper bomb wrapped around the handle as the Sarutobi quickly leaped as far up and away as he could, clenching his body as he put his arms and legs up to shield himself as it detonated and the blast came for him.

The winds it produced flowing fast past his body as his vision was hindered, but even so, he could hear the sound of something cutting and spinning through the air. His arm already moving as he saw part of the smoke clear as something blew past it, a shuriken heading right for him. And it would've hit him if he didn't deflect it with his blade in time, the clang of metal being heard as the shuriken bounced off.

But that wasn't the end as he heard the puff of something, before hearing a pair of feet being planted in the ground and grind against the dirt beneath it. Before part of the smoke cleared once again, revealing Naruto as he got ready to throw a punch.

But Konohamaru wasn't fazed as he began to swing his other hand, flowing his chakra through the blade to extend its reach as he sung it at Naruto. Only to miss as he realized the Blonde was in a spin, his head ducking under the blades arc as his legs raised above him. And before Konohamaru could defend himself Naruto's heal came crashing down on his back. Sending him plummeting towards the ground. His body disappearing in a puff of smoke as his threshold for damage was reached.

_'So that was one of the Clones,'_ Naruto thought as he leaned on his two feet, looking back into the smoke as he saw his own clone standing there. Giving a nod, the original ran to help Gamatatsu, while the clone stayed in the smoke, before crouching down to the ground and raised a fist.

Gamatatsu gave a confused whine as the two Konohamaru's jumped and moved around him, circling him as they never stayed in one place for long. Throwing projectiles at the Toad who did his best to dodged them, fear at the possibility f them hitting him now keeping him on the defensive.

"Gamatatsu! Pound the ground!"

The Toad gave Naruto a confused look as he saw him run towards him, but seeing that the toad wasn't following the order, the Uzumaki shouted it once again, "Just do it! Hurry!"

Gamatatsu followed the order as he began to pummelled the ground beneath him with the palms of his hands as hard as he could, his power shaking the earth around him and vibrating the ground as the two Konohamaru's felt themselves lose their balance. One of the Konohamaru's barely able to guard himself as Naruto jumped to him, sending a kick towards the Sarutobi that sent him towards the other Konohamaru as Naruto landed next to Gamatatsu, putting his hand on the Toad to single him to stop. The ground settling once again as the two Konohamaru's stood side by side.

The two Konohamaru's were about to charge in for an attack, but froze once they saw Naruto smirking.

"Gamatatsu! Whip your tongue at them!" Naruto ordered, the two Konohamaru's bending their legs as they waited for whatever order they saw him give but couldn't hear. Only for nothing to come as Gamatatsu just stood still.

Naruto sweatdropped from the silence, with the Toad turning to look at him with a blank stare.

"Uh, how do I do that?" Gamatatsu asked, and Naruto could swear he felt his brain twitch as he slumped and sighed.

"Just, just extend your tongue at them like you were trying to hit them with it," Naruto told him as he facepalmed, his expression causing the two Konohamaru's to pause in confusion along with the rest of the stadium as to what was happening.

But Gamatatsu looked as though an exclamation mark came over his face, "Oh, I get it! I think I saw big bro do something like that!" He exclaimed as he turned his head back to the two Sarutobi's before winding up his head.

"Like this!" Gamatatsu shouted as he shot his tongue at, the long pink appendage whipping towards the two Konohamaru's at such incredible speed, surprising them both, barely able to prepare to jump in time.

But the sound of earth cracking beneath them singled a stop to their movements as some grabbed ahold of their legs. Looking back down the two Konohamaru's saw a Naruto appear a bit from the ground, a hole dug around him as he grinned at them, his hands holding onto each of their legs as he kept them in place.

There was no time to try and break the grip as the Konohamaru's prepared for the incoming tongue. The original Konohamaru putting up his arms in an attempt to shield himself while the clone used as much movement as he could to get between the original and the tongue. Chakra flowing throwing his blade as he attempted to cut the tongue.

But the clone was only able to graze the appendage as it slammed into him and the original Konohamaru, taking the clone Naruto along with them as they were all sent flying over the ground before hitting it, the clones disappearing in a puff of smoke while the original Konohamaru's body tumbled violently against the ground before hitting the wall, the Sarutobi feeling the wind knocked out of him from it as he fell on his hands and knees, his clothe and body looking clearly worn out from the battle as they were littered with ash and bruises.

Naruto's body while looking similar, wasn't as severe as Konohamaru as he looked at his friend with a sorrow expression. It looked as though the win was his own, but even though he knew he had to take it, he felt worried about the mind of his friend from the win. The rest of his team lost, and now him, he probably would've felt like he failed them.

_'Can't think about that, I knew that fighting in this tournament meant beating down others'_ Naruto thought as he shook his head, seeing Gamatatsu retracted his tongue as he gave a bit of the whine from the cut it received. Taking out a kunai the Blonde made a stance towards the Sarutobi, who was barely able to get up as he panted heavily.

"Sorry, Konohamaru," Naruto muttered under his breath as he patted the Toad next to him, and even the naive Toad could tell it was signal to end this battle as they saw Konohamaru just give the two a narrow stare as he supported himself on the wall while clutching his chest.

But just as he took a step forward, two booming voices grabbed the attention of him, and Konohamaru's.

_"Come on Konohamaru! If your gonna lose, then at least don't take it lying down!"_

_"Yeah! You told us to keep fighting till the end! So don't you go croaking now!"_

Up in the participants' box stood Moegi and Udon, both with bandages covering their bodies, the clear consequences of their battles still looking to take an effect on them, but they were summoning up all their strength to cheer, or well, berate their teammate. Hanabi giving the two a smile as she leaned onto the railing and held her head up with one hand.

And it seemed to work as Konohamaru smirked, Naruto deciding to hold his assault for now out of respect for his friend as he got himself together, dusting off his body before adjusting his limbs, grabbing the single chakra blade he managed to hold onto from the ground as he gave his own stance Naruto.

"Gamatatsu," Naruto called to the Toad, who looked at him with a blank stare.

"Do me a favor, for now, stay out of this fight," Naruto ordered, the Toad not replying as he turned back to Konohamaru, but Naruto believed he understood the question.

And then, the two Kage relatives charged at each other.

* * *

"Is it some sort of tradition for you Leaf ninja to cheer each other and suddenly get a second wind?" The Raikage asked in a mocking tone as they watched the two Genin charge at each other.

Minato though, could barely contain his sigh as he responded, "We strongly believe in teamwork and helping each other in the Hidden Leaf," Minato replied, "But this tournament may just hold the extreme example of those."

The Raikage scoffed, "Whatever it is, the only thing that matters, in the end, is power, be it between a battle of ninja, or villages." He replied with a harsh undertone, that made the two other Kage eye him from the side for a moment before focusing on the battle below once again.

* * *

Down in the stands, a pair of two men with worn out dusty looking brown cloaks that covered their body and heads stayed in their seats in front of the bar as one drank their drinks as they both turned their bodies to look at the battle behind them.

"Hmph, those two got spunk, I'll give'em that." One of the men commented, the opening in the top of his cloak exposing his blonde hair, with one of his bangs covering his eye. His other teammate though, didn't even seem to react, his opening exposing wide, greyish brown eyes that stared unblinkingly at the fight below, the short mount of ruffled red hair being seen.

The blonde proceeded to scoff at his partner as he took another swing of his drink, "I swear, I feel like you show more emotion inside your puppet than in your actual body." He complained, "Why are you even using it? This place is ruled by your home country, right Sasori-senpai?"

The red-hair clocked member turned his head to blonde as he gave one of his few emotional looks, one of annoyance as his eyes narrowed at him, "No one from the Sand has seen my real face in years, however, _Hiruko_ , meanwhile, has been seen with the Akatsuki." Sasori answered as he referred to his usual appearance, "But while you still aren't widely known as part of the Akatsuki, you're still a missing-nin with a high bounty in the bingo-book, so don't draw any unnecessary attention to yourself, Deidara"

"Yeah, yeah," Deidara responded before turning back to the bar, "Hey, bartender, another round!" He shouted, the man working the place nodding in understanding as he got to work on another drink.

Turning back to his redhead partner, Deidara gave him another annoyed look, his eyes darting between the man's body, and his drink, which was just as full as when he got it, 20 minutes ago.

_'Just a waste of good beer,'_ Deidara mused as he finished his current drink and watched the two genin battling out below.

_'Not gonna lie, that kids kinda good, might be fun battling him'_ Deidara thought of Naruto, liking the kid's tenacity, that and the scene with his summoned Toad also got a laugh out of him, _'But unfortunately, he's not my target.'_

Deidara's eyes moving from the arena, to the stands of the Kage above, his gaze focusing on the redhead one that sat in the middle, and the Blonde couldn't help but smirk in anticipation.

_'All of them, will see, the beauty of my art.'_

* * *

"Oh good, looks like I didn't miss much, " Sakura stated in relief as she hopped down the stairs, shimmering her way between her two teammates as she sat back in her seat to watch on as Naruto and Konohamaru clashed, entering a match of taijutsu as for each strike one landed, the other block, for the same to happen to them.

But the girl still had a question in her mind as she leaned towards her blonde teammate, "Why did you want me to heal those two?" She referred to Konohamaru's teammate, "Their injuries weren't that bad, they would've recovered fully with time."

Naruto though, just smile as she tilted her head and cupped it with a hand as she gazed down at the two Genin below, "It wasn't about their injuries, it was for Konohamaru's spirit." She answered, Sakura looking at her with a confused look.

"His spirit?" She questioned, not completely understanding why she would do that, was she rooting for her Brother, or Konohamaru, cause at this point she couldn't tell.

"She wanted him to fight at full strength, nothing to weigh on his mind," Sasuke chimed in while keeping his eyes on the brawl below, the two participants landing a few cuts and blows to each other, but nothing major though.

But Sakura seemed as though she needed a bit more of the explanation, why would it have been worth it to do that?

"I want those two to give it their all, no restrictions, no regrets, just two incredible kids, with things they need to prove." Naruko stated, seeing Naruto and Konohamaru land a hard blow on each other's face at the same time, "The two might be similar in strength and skill, but that emotional struggle, their bond, and the things they need to prove. Will drive them to go past their limits, and keep fighting, even when they don't have the strength to move,"

And Sakura could only respond by smiling at her friend as she returned to watching the battle, seeing the two Genin shaking off the painful blow before getting back into their struggle.

* * *

Naruto was barely able to parry the large swing Konohamaru gave him before planting his knee in the Sarutobi's stomach, entice a cough and loss of air by the Genin as Naruto took the most of this chance given. His hands behind Konohamaru's back he brought his hands into a seal, making a pair of clones that puffed into existence behind him as they help to follow up the attack.

One clone quickly running behind Konohamaru while the other gave the Sarutobi a lariat that sent the top of his body flying backward, his back over the ground as the other Naruto clone came between the two, planting the back of his own body into the ground as he sent a double kick upwards, sending Konohamaru to the air. The original Naruto quickly got between the pair of clones, offering his hand to each one as they took it before sending them up to their airborne opponent as they each got ready to land a finishing blow.

But Konohamaru wasn't gonna let it happen like this. Biting his lips and ignoring the pain the blue-scarf wearing Sarutobi brought his own hands in a seal, conjuring up his own clone in the air. The original and clone nodded to each other, both their scarfs quickly becoming undone as they tossed one end of their own respectively at each other, extending the two fabrics as they fell down and caught and trapped the pair of Naruto clones between them and a one-way ticket to the ground.

_'And people think its just for show,'_ Konohamaru smirked as he and his clone brought the Naruto's down, the original Naruto rolling forward and out of the way as his clones slammed into the ground, puffing out of existence. Turning his head to his now two opponents, only for the sound of smoke bombs popping to blind his vision, the smoke surrounding him as he quickly made his stance, ready to leap at a moments notice as he tried to figure out his, and Konohamaru's next move.

_'Maybe now's a good time to call back Gamatatsu,'_ Naruto considered, only to dodge as he barely saw the kunai passing through the smoke and almost through his face. Naruto gritted his teeth, he was at a disadvantage, his chakra was low, and he could feel his body feeling tired, only adrenaline keeping it functioning at his best. He had to team up with Gamatatsu soon and end this battle, but that was only if he could get out of this smoke unscathed.

But that was proven to be much more difficult than he anticipated as the smoke behind him moved out of the way. Revealing Konohamaru as the genin got ready to land a punch. Naruto barely able to catch his hand, hooking and grabbing his extended arm as he began to take him to the ground. Only for his eyes to widen as another Konohamaru appeared from the side, his leg already off the ground and extended as it swung towards him, just for Naruto to take hold of it with his other arm as the first Konohamaru was now on the ground.

But that wasn't the end of it, as the ground beneath him shook, before the sound of earth breaking was heard behind him as something, or someone popped out. Another Konohamaru appearing behind him as it wrapped its arms and legs around Naruto in a hold, disrupting whatever advantage Naruto had on the other two Konohamaru as they all grabbed ahold of his body, keeping him standing and still as he struggled to break free of the three Konohamaru hold. But he couldn't.

_'Damn it!'_ Naruto shouted in his mind, ready to shout to Gamatatsu for help, only to feel his mouth covered by some fabric as it wrapped around his head and body, providing another layer for him to struggle against. He was trapped, and it was bad.

But then he heard the sound of something wheezing and cutting through the air, but not like a shuriken. It sounded familiar, and he found out why as the smoke in front of him was blown away, revealing Konohamaru, the original he assumed, with a spherical blue orb formed in his hand, a clone next to him, the two seemingly holding the blue orb together.

And Naruto knew exactly what that was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the first part of this fight is done, man this is the most complex fight I've done so far. Defiantly had me thinking of creative ideas for both those two, hoped you guys liked them. Also, why Gamatatsu? Well I originally planned for him to be Naruto's first summon, but decided it would simpler at first to do Gamakichi to get him started, plus I thought it was pretty funny in the style of some good'ol Naruto humor. Now as for next chapter, oh ho ho, its gonna be a dozy, trust me. This exam is only getting started.


	17. Clash

_"Rasengan!" Naruko shouted as the blue orb in her hand crashed into the training dummy in front of her, the orb grinding into the dummy before ripping it off its post and sending it flying to the wall, a shock of wind emanating from her hand from the eminence force of the jutsu as it dissipated. The one year experience Genin giving a proud smirk as she turned to her family, hand on her hip as she let the body language of her well development form show what she was feeling. Her attire looking similar to the one she would wear years from now, though her pants were much longer this time around, with her sandals being flat instead of having a small heel, her body, while nowhere near as eye turning as it would be later in life, was still something a girl her age would be proud of._

_"Whoa!" A 9 year Naruto exclaimed as he clenched his hands while standing on the steps to their backyard, stars forming in his eyes from the jutsu and his amazing older sister, his young mind going into overdrive by what he saw. Their parents though, while not nearly as excited as he was, still had an impressed gaze from the action as they clapped at their daughter in celebration._

_"So that was the surprise Jiraiya-sensei said you had in store for us," Minato commented with his trademark smile as he laid back, glad that he was allowed to come home early today from work in order to see this._

_Turning to his wife, the redhead had a look of amazement and pride, noticing her Husband grinning at her the Uzumaki quickly turned away from him, arms crossed as he could tell she was giving a pout on the other side._

_"Fine fine, I guess I may have overreacted to letting Jiraiya train her," She apologized, not knowing she'd have to repeat those words to herself when it happened to her son as well._

_And said son was filled with ecstasy as he ran up to his older sister, only reaching up to her stomach in his height, bouncing up in down while she grinned down at him, "So, Naruto, what do you think? Your Big Sis is pretty amazing, huh?" She asked with a smile, shooting her clear white teeth at him to sell the look._

_"That was amazing Nee-chan!" Naruto shouted with glee, "Can you teach me it!?"_

_Naruko only chuckled as she ruffled his hair playfully, "Maybe when you get older? You do start the academy in a month." She responded, immediately letting out another small chuckle as she saw Naruto pout in response, his smile and body slumping from the rejection._

_"You know you could always teach him yourself, he's gonna be a bit down from that for a week," Kushina whispered the playful suggestion as she leaned towards her Husband, who chuckled as he looked at her with a smile and raised an eyebrow._

_"And risk his body leaking out some Kyuubi chakra? You know how dangerous it could be to train young Jinchuriki before they're of age. His body isn't ready for any potential backlash that could happen," He countered, "Not to mention they're much younger than you were when you became a Jinchuriki."_

_Kushina smirked as she rested her head on her hand, watching as Naruko started to get a look of panic as Naruto seemed ready to burst into tears at the rejection, 'I sometimes wonder if that's his own cleverness or the Kyuubi's influence,' Kushina thought as Naruko put her hands up to try and calm the boy down as she responded back to Minato, "Yeah, but still, I can already tell, they're gonna be much better than I ever was." She told him, looking at their children with pride._

_Minato also gave a similar look as well, "They're gonna be greater than both of us,"_

_Naruko meanwhile, was about to get a panic attack as it looked as though nothing was gonna stop Naruto from crying, 'Oh where's Hinata when I need her!' She thought before an idea of how to deal with the situation came to her. The blonde's trademark sneaky grin returning as she looked at her brother, who paused to stare up at her in confusion._

_"Alright Naruto, I'll teach," She proclaimed, excitement returning to Naruto's body as he looked up at with glee._

_"Really!?"_

_Naruko nodded her head in confirmation, but before Naruto could celebrate, Naruko halted it as she held out a finger to him, "But, not yet,"_

_"Huh?" Naruto breathed out, his eyes blinking in confusion._

_Naruko's smirk widen, "Not yet I said, I will teach you the Rasengan when you've gone through your first Chunin Exam!"_

_Naruto felt a bit dejected at the proposal, but even so, even if he had to wait, it would still happen, right?_

_"You promise?" He asked, his voice low._

_"Promise," Naruko repeated, before extending out her pinky finger to the boy, winking at him to send the message._

_And Naruto smiled when the two made their promise._

* * *

_'Guess she taught it to Konohamaru first,'_ Naruto mused as he continued to struggle agaisnts the clones grip, only for nothing to bulge.

_'God this is gonna suck,'_ Naruto thought as he saw Konohamaru begin to take his first step towards him.

* * *

"I think I may be regretting teaching Konohamaru the Rasengan now," Nauko muttered as a worried look came on her face, holding the wrist of one of her hands while she bit the nail of her other.

The other's look at her a bit perplexed, Cause it's now starting to hit you might directly be responsible if Naruto losses?" Kiba ask.

Naruko though, just shook her head, "Oh no I already came to terms with that awhile ago," She quickly responded.

"Than why are you regretting it?" Sakura continued.

"Cause its really gonna hurt Naruto if it lands," She answered, as they all focused on Konohamaru and his clone running at the trapped Naruto.

* * *

_'Come on, come on!'_ Naruto thought as he kept struggling, the sphere of chakra coming closer and closer, "Get off me damn it!" Naruto shouted, before feeling his arm break free of one of the hold. Taking the chance and immediately clocking one of the clones as hard as he could, with speed only possible through desperation as the clone puffed away, freeing his other arm as Naruto wasted no time in trying to take down the clone on his left, who also did its best to stop Naruto as they both elbowed each other. Powerful hits that sent the wind out of both of them, but Naruto was able to fight through it as his other arm landed a solid punch on the clones stomach, sending him out of existence as only the one holding his back remained.

But as he tried to swing his sit back, it hit nothing but air, the shadow over him telling him of the clone's position, but the sound of wires alerted him to another problem as he felt his clothes tighten around his skin, and his movement became restricted. But not restricted enough as before the clone could land once again Naruto sent a punch to it, knocking it away from its physical form as it turned into smoke.

However, the smoke was almost immediately blown away, as Konohamaru and his clone ran through it, already in front of Naruto as the time it took for him to take out the clones gave them just enough to reach him. Only a meter separating the pair, and Naruto was not ready. His body was already moving towards the attack from the punch he sent, and he couldn't change course quick enough due to the wires that clung around him.

It felt like things were going in slow motion for Naruto, the movements of his body seemingly out of his control as Konohamaru and his clone charged at him, Naruto's eyes landing on the Jutsu that was about to grind into his stomach, and likely take him out of the match. It felt agonizing, seeing the chakra it held swirl around while its whizzing got closer and closer.

"Rasengan!" Konohamaru and his clone shouted as they gave one final push to the jutsu to end the gap from their opponent, but just as they were about to hit Naruto, a blur jumped in front of him instead.

Naruto's eyes widen as he saw Gamatatsu in front of him, the sound of the Rasengan hitting him as Naruto heard it grind into the toad's stomach, only for the sphere to cover his entire body and take him away backward. Naruto barely sidestepping out of the way as the large Rasengan holding Gamatatsu inside cut into the ground before landing at the wall, giving an explosion that rocked and cracked the structure.

"Gamatatsu!" Naruto screamed as he ran over to the toad. Konohamaru and his clone were about to give chase to end the battle quickly, only for the sound of sizzling to be heard as they saw Naruto left a paper bomb behind him, the two Konohamaru's quickly jumping back to get away as Naruto ran towards the toad.

The smoke from the explosion had cleared, showing the beat up toad as his back was to the cracked wall, his body slumped as his head hung low, his arms dropped to the side as cuts and marks littered his body, his coat seemingly destroyed. And Naruto knew, that if he had taken that hit, he would have definitely been taken out.

But he ignored that thought as he keeled down to the Toad, "Gamatatsu, Gamatatsu are you ok?!" He asked with worriness in his voice.

And luckily, he got a response as he heard the yellow toad emit a whine, "Ow," Gamatatsu muttered as his eyes were narrowly open, "That really hurt,"

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, but one of confusion still reigned on his face, "Why did you do that!?" He questioned, why did this Toad, who he only met less than 10 minutes ago, take that attack for him.

And said Toad could only look at him in confusion, "Cause then you would've gotten really hurt," He replied simply, ignoring the pain he was feeling.

Naruto blinked at the response, "But, you barely know me, why would you do that for me if you knew it was gonna hurt?" The Blonde demanded it didn't make sense.

But Gamatatsu just continued to look at him in confusion, as though he was the one not making sense, "But, your Naruko's little brother, right? She talks a lot about how special you are to her, and she also does her best to make me happy. So if helping you makes her happy, then that makes me happy." Gamatatsu explained, Naruto felt his mind go blank, it was that simple for the toad, he was that naive and innocent to think like that, but even so, Naruto couldn't help but respect it, and honestly part of him knew, he himself was like that as well.

Smirking, Naruto stood back up, looking at the two Konohamaru's a distance away, both waiting for him to make the nest move. Walking in front of the toad, Naruto felt his body reinvigorated, a new pool of strength to take from being found as his will lit up like never before, and with his back to the Toad, he spoke to it once more.

"Gamatatsu, thanks, for everything you've done," He told the toad, "So you can head back home now, I can finish the rest," Naruto assured with an honest tone, one way or another, this battle was gonna end, and Naruto was gonna give it his best.

And Gamatatsu gave a tired smile from the response as his head drooped a bit down, "Ok then, it was nice meeting you, bye." The Toad said in a tired voice that still held his chipper tone, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"It was nice meeting you too," Naruto muttered back with a smile as he stared down the two Konohamaru's. And despite the smirks on each of their faces, they could all tell, this was their last wind.

And with just one look, the two nodded with each other, a nod, that each could read simply, as, one last blow.

Konohamaru held his palm out to the side, the clone next to him immediately getting to work on another Rasengan, while Naruto placed his hand in a seal, feeling a burning sensation travel from his stomach, to his arm, and finally his right hand as his chains popped out, smaller than they were before. But instead of traveling outwards away from him, Naruto had them wrapped around his hand, encasing it in a makeshift glove that wrapped tightly and covered his fist.

* * *

"This is it, the final clash," Sasuke commented as he leaned back, his eyes focused on the two genin below. He could feel the intensity in both of their attacks, the will, and soul they put into it. It didn't matter who you were, attacks like that always left a mark, one way or another.

"Hey, Naruko, will that Toad be alright, that Rasengan looked pretty painful," Ino asked her fellow blonde, who just held a light smile as she watched on below.

"He'll be fine," Naruko replied with an honest tone, "While he'll probably have a couple of bruises, he can take as good as he gives,"

_'But still, taking that attack for Naruto, I sometimes forget how naive and selfless he can be, guess he more than earned that trip to Ichiraku's,'_ Naruko thought as the group saw the two genin bend their knees and lean towards each other, clearly ready to charge.

* * *

_'Hmm, this will be interesting'_ Kushina thought as she saw the two genin about to charge at each other, she had to give Konohamaru props, he seemed to have a good hold on the Rasengan. If he kept on improving as he had, she would say he might become an exploratory Ninja in time. But Naruto was doing much better than she expected as well. She couldn't recall the last time he had a fire like this in his eyes. And it made her smile, win or lose, he already was improving.

_'And I don't think I've ever seen the chains used like that,'_ Kushina thought at the way Naruto had the golden chains wrapped around his fist, it was definitely something she never would've thought of, _'Now how will it react to the Rasengan?'_ She wondered.

* * *

For a moment, it felt like the world around the two genin disappeared, as only a white void was where they were stationed, their tired bodies ready to let out their last display of strength, all they needed was the signal. And, without a world, the two charged.

The only thing that filled their ears was the sound of their feet hitting the ground beneath them as they ran, their faces being hit by the air as they ran through it, their eyes focused on the opponent running towards them. And then, they reached each other, Konohamaru's Rasengan leaned forward, while Naruto's chain covered fist did the same. Their attacks landing in the center between them, and they collided.

The sound of clash blasted through their ears, along with the force as they both dug their feet into the ground while their attacks clashed as its force was felt all the way up in the crowd. Naruto grunted as he felt the Rasengan grind into his chains, the golden jutsu rattling against itself, while Konohamaru and his clone used their two-man advantage to try and outpower Naruto. But the blonde wasn't gonna allow, as while his arm bent a little back from the force, he kept his ground and wouldn't give up another inch.

But even so, Naruto could feel himself faulting, he felt his chains seem to get weaker the longer the clash kept, while Konohamaru's Rasengan kept on pushing on. If he didn't do something soon, he was gonna be overpowered. For a moment, he considered asking Ku for a boost, but immediately shot away the thought, he had to do this on his own, not with her power.

And while he didn't know, that declaration caused the fox to smirk as she watched on, getting ready to heal him once the battle was over.

But then Naruto remembered, a way to power up the chains. And gritting his teeth, he focused on putting the rest of his chakra to the chains, their low golden glow starting to light up as they switched from their attacking form to their more powerful sealing form. Naruto finally feeling them start to match the Rasengan, as any ground the Sarutobi was gaining was stopped as he suddenly found himself on the defensive. Noticing the Rasengan start to shrink for a moment as the Sarutobi pushed all his chakra into it.

The two Genin looked at each other, eyes locked as they saw the fire in both their eyes and they both proceeded to give one last cry of strength.

"AHHHHH!" The two of them roared. And with that, the white void they were present in, was blown away as their attacks released all the energy brewing between them, as the two were engulfed in a large explosion that shook the stadium, covering the center with its thick dust.

* * *

Everyone's eyes went wide into shock from the force of the explosion, clear surprise from its power as their seats shook. Naruko's group going into worry while Naruko herself had a look of terror, clearly scared for her brother and semi-student. And in the participants stand, Hanabi, Udon, and Moegi all gripped the rails in worry, but, a calm look was kept on their faces as they believed in their comrades.

Kushina meanwhile, felt her heart beating fast as her motherly instincts took, over, but, she couldn't help but be a bit prideful as well. Both of these Genin sure as hell made an impression anyone could be proud of.

Minato though, was hastily tapping his foot as he waited for the smoke to clear, his hands brought to together as he looked towards the arena, while he definitely was rooting for Naruto as a father, as a kage, he couldn't truly pick a side. But even so, he worried for both his son, and the grandson of the third. Clashes of jutsu could be deadly, especially when they were at an equal level, as the recoil would be felt on both sides, and from the size and power of this explosion, there was definitely gonna be some high recoil for both participants.

Plus it also wasn't good they were each tired as well, their jutsu being one last hurrah from their strength.

_'Come on Naruto,'_ Minato begged, eyes closed for a moment as he tilted his head down for a silent prayer. Only for them to open up quickly and for him to lean forward as the smoke started to clear, revealing the silhouettes of a few figures.

* * *

As the smoke cleared, the entire crowd stayed silent, anticipation causing them to look at the edge of their seats as the figures within the smoke were revealed. There, stood both Naruto and Konohamaru their bodies slumped as they were completely still, their arms dropped at their side as their faces were covered by darkness as they slumped down.

The ground beneath the two was torn away, revealing the dark dirt underneath as not a single grass patch was seen around them for a couple of meters. Everyone was silent with bated breath, waiting for any of the Genin to make a move, to show that they were the winner.

And then, one did.

Konohamaru's fist clenched as he straightened up his back, his face pointing at the sky as he closed his eyes, blood running down his face as he let out a scream. Only to then fall forward, knocked out as his body shut down in front of Naruto.

And then, Naruto let out his own scream, except this time, he shot his fist up to the air, in a sign of his victory.

And the crowd roared.

Temari smirked at the sight as the crowd cheered for the blonde, before extending an arm out to him, "The winner of the match is Naruto Namikaze of the Hidden Leaf!" She declared as the crowd roared even louder, the sound of clapping being heard for the spectacle they just witness.

Naruto meanwhile, felt the strength in his legs start to weaken, the adrenaline that kept him going was gone, only tired muscles remaining. And, with the buckle of his legs, he felt himself start to fall. Only to be caught in the arm of his father.

"Dad?" Naruto muttered as his tired, narrow eyes stared up to the face of the man who caught him.

Minato returned a proud smile to his son, and with a simple, yet praise fueled tone, he said "Good job,"

Naruto smiled at those words, before letting his eyes rest as his body slumped in his father's arms. Smiling back down at him, Minato held him gently while also placing a hand on Konohamaru, giving a nod to Temari, who nodded back before he, and the two Genin, disappeared in a flash.

Turning back to the still cheering Audience, Temari placed a hand up to get their attention and settle them down as she made her voice boom, "And with the first round over, we shall now have a short break to allow our fighters time to rest up!"

And with that, the crowd broke up to take advantage of the break for whatever they wished. With a certain blonde and redhead running to the medical rooms.

* * *

Minato gently placed Naruto down on the bed provided for him in the arena halls, having already placed Konohamaru in his own separate room to allow the body his own space.

He was about to leave and rejoin the other Kage up top, but the low, tired voice of Naruto caught his attention.

"Dad?" Naruto called out, his eyes still closed as he waited for a reply.

"I'm here Naruto," The Hokage replied, seeing Naruto's face soften up from the confirmation.

Moving his lips once again, the younger blonde spoke, "Thanks, for being an inspiration,"

Minato chuckled a bit from the praise, "I'm glad I could,"

And with that, the Hokage vanished the sound of a whoosh and light breeze confirming it to Naruto, as he let his body rest.

_"Good job."_

Naruto's eyes shot open at the sound of the voice, finding himself no longer in the medical room, but in a familiar looking mountainous plain, located, inside of his mind.

Across from him stood Ku, a smirk on her face as she crossed her arms over her breasts. Before walking towards him.

Naruto was unable to say anything as she stood in front of him, her height greater than him as she looked down at him with a face he could only assume was pride. Before she brought her hand up and placed it on his head, playfully ruffling it.

"I'm proud of you," Was all she said, before Naruto found himself back in the medical room, and he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face, ready to lie down and rest.

However, it seemed as though he wouldn't get to, as the door quickly swung opening. And before he could muster the strength to lift his body up and see who it was, he was brought into a bone-crushing hugging, his face smothered in a deep valley of soft cushions.

"Naruto, you don't know how proud I am!" Kushina exclaimed, bringing her son's head deeper into her open cleavage, before pulling him out and planting a wet, smack of a kiss on his lips with her own, half of it filled with motherly love, the other half filled with lust, a combination she was able to make deadly.

Kushina gave him a grin mixed in pride, and teasing, as she knew the effect she was having on him, but she didn't care much as she looked at him, the blonde sitting himself up on the bed as he propped his back on the wall as he looked back, his face a bit red.

Clasping her hands while tilting her head to the side, eyes closed to complete the look, Kushina giggled like a schoolgirl at Naruto, who only gave a soft chuckle in response as he rubbed the back of his head.

"So I did good, huh?" Naruto asked sarcastically, to which Kushina only turned her chuckle into a laugh.

"Did well?" She repeated sarcastically as she opened her eyes at him, "You did amazing!" She exclaimed, hands extended towards him in excitement to show how proud she was of him Naruto chuckle back in relief. Only for Kushina's joyful smile, to turn into a devilish smirk as she leaned forwards. The sultry look in her eyes being one Naruto was already familiar with.

In a low, husky, sultry tone she said, "In fact, you did so good, I'm tempted to give you a reward, right here and now." Bringing a hand to the zipper of her vest and pulling it slightly down, exposing more of the skin of her glorious round breast to him to emphasize her point. The mother giggling inwards as he saw his flustered reaction, his breath seemingly hitching as his eyes were drawn to the valley being opened up below.

Quickly, the Uzumaki brought her hand to a seal, before creating a multitude of barriers around them, one directly surrounding the pair to capture and erase the scent they were about to create. And another to block out the door to the room from the outside, making it blend into the wall for some privacy.

_'Ok, so, the break should last around 15-20 minutes, it's already been 2, and considering I know Naruko is gonna wanna talk to him as well, I should leave him with at least 5 minutes for them to talk. So, in short, gotta keep this under 5 minutes.'_ Kushina thought to herself as she looked at Naruto, before fully zipping down her vest, showing the tight blue shirt that clung to her taut form underneath. With Kushina immediately grabbing its helm as she quickly pulled it up and over her breast, showing the red sports bra she had underneath. Only for Kushina to let out a little growl, hating how many articles of clothing she had worn today as she just snapped the middle string that held between her two breasts, causing the cups to sag at the side and expose her full mounds to him.

_'I can just use a jutsu to deal with it later,'_ Kushina thought, referring to how she'll hold her breast before looking at Naruto with a bright smile, loving how he looked at her mounds in awe. The redhead bringing her arms to their side and pushing them a bit together, causing them to pop out more towards the blonde.

"Impressive, right?" She teased, roller her arms a bit to cause the skin of her breast to ripple slightly.

For the first time since he started getting these rewards, Naruto had a clear view of his Mother's breast, and boy were they worth all the teasing. They were large, plump, rounded, and despite the small sag they held, it only made them look even better, her areola was large, and her dark pink nipples matched as they seemed to be marvelously stiff, pointing out to the blonde while his mother smirk.

But, he wasn't able to stare for long as Kushin quickly got on her knees in front of the bed, patting the area in front of her as Naruto got the message. Scooting his body towards it as his legs swung off over it, landing on either side of her as she opened up his thighs, the tent forming in his pants causing her lick her lips as she gripped the helm of fabric, pulling down both it and his small clothes as he lifted up his hips, his lower clothes sagging to his knees while his bare ass sat against the fabric of the bed. But all he was focused on was the predatory look his Mother gave his length, her eyes seemingly lighting up as she saw it once again.

_'I've only done this once with Minato, and even though he's not much for foreplay, I got a pretty good reaction from this.'_ Kushina thought as she opened her mouth, her tongue dropping out of it as she dragged it along her son's rod. The Blonde giving a shiver and hisses from the sensation, before gripping the bed and it's sheets tightly as Kushina quickly engulfed the head of his penis in her mouth, her tongue swirling around it like a popsicle as it was drenched in her spit.

The redhead quickly started bobbing her head up and down, engulfing Naruto's dick with a rapid pace, uneven pace, one of Naruto's hands gripping her head as she smirked at the feeling while hearing him moan, making sure to breathe through her nose to keep up her pace while sucking him off. Fluttering her eyes up at him, the look of wonder and amazement he had for in his eyes made her smirk around his member, the sound of her slurping and light moans adding to the atmosphere. Before slowly, and sensually pulling her head off it, making sure to drag her tongue along his underside.

Releasing his member with a loud pop, the MILF of an Uzumaki used her hand to stroke it, the grunts and moans Naruto gave off being music to her ears as she covered and rubbed her spit all around his rod's skin, making sure it was well lubricated for what she was about to do next. Looking up at his pleasure contorted face, Kushina grinned widely, a small heat emanating from her lips down under.

_'Ohh, is this gonna be fun.'_ Kushina thought as she let go of his member with her hand. Naruto letting out a confused groan at the loss of the pleasure, only for his eyes to bolt open as his member was engulfed in a sea of softness he had never seen before. His eyes landing on his grinning mother, his rod smack dab in between her two breasts as she pushed them together against him, only the tip it being visible while the rest pulsed around her skin, a small stream of precum leaking from his tip.

Naruto groaned once again as Kushina added more pressure to her hold, it was like his dick was lost in a sea of softness, the lubrication from her spit making it slide between seamlessly, and from the look on his face Kushina's smirk only widen, "Feels good, huh?" She asked, making sure to roll her breast sensually, the light nod Naruto gave being confirmation to her question, "Now, just so we're clear, this is your reward for the amazing job you did for the first round." She stated, Naruto barely able to take in her words while being lost in pleasure.

"So, for each round you win, I'll give you another reward." She told him, making her breast move up and down a few to slide along his member and engulf different parts of it, the result being Naruto bucking his hips to it. Kushina giving a slight chuckle at how his pubic hair tickled the underside of her Breasts

Continuing the motion, Kushina continued talking, "But, they won't be the same as they were before, no, I'll be letting you explore my body, and you learn how to pleasure a woman, specifically me."

Naruto's mind was going into overdrive, and, with all the other reasons for wanting to win the tournament, these rewards were going to just give him an extra boost. And seeing this, Kushina made sure to move her breast even faster.

_'Damn, he's become resistant,'_ Kushina thought as she continued her work, it was taking much longer for Naruto to cum than before, and looking at the clock, 4 out of their 5 minutes had already passed, _'_ _Guess that means I'm gonna have to kick it up a notch.'_

And with that, while his tip was poking out of her tits at its highest point, she moved her head down and engulfed it with one fell swoop, her tongue immediately swirling around it as she heard Naruto give a gasp, before his hands left the bed sheets and gripped her head instead, instinct taking over for him as he tried to push her head down.

_'Uhh, he's getting really excited'_ Kushina mused at the action, even though she could've easily resisted the hold, she decided to let him have his fun. And, with the way his hips were buckling, it looked like this would push him over the edge. And so, continuing her titfuck/blowjob combo, she let him thrust his hips up and down, sliding past her silky breasts into her warm mouth, only a fourth of his member reaching inside of it at a time, still, it was enough to cause some of the spit from her mouth to drip from her lips onto her breast, giving him more lubrication from his dick to slide past.

As Naruto held her head down while bucking his hips up and down, Kushina tried to match his uneven thrust and pace, 'Something to work on later,' She noted, making sure to squeeze and roll her mounds while sucking whatever part of his member was in her mouth. The sounds of her slurping, with the small whines and moans she emitted to spur Naruto on while he groaned filled the room, Kushina feeling her lower body heat up, even more, her thighs rubbing together to scratch the itch forming on her entrance.

And, after around 30 seconds of this, Naruto felt himself finally come, Kushina being signaled to it when his grip on her head pushed her down hard enough that she was momentarily surprised by his strength, now engulfing half of his dick as her lips were kissing her breasts as well. She was barely able registered the way his member was spasming in her breasts in time as she realized from the loud groan he started to emit what was happening. Luckily was able to get ready from for the shots that soon came into her mouth, the first one being shot straight down her throat, while the second and third one painted the inside of her mouth white.

Now, she could have easily taken the rest of his loads if she wanted to, but, she decided to give him another reward for him to look at and spur him on even more. And so, pushing away from his grip, she pulled her head off his member with a pop and a gasp of air, before his fourth shot went right to her face, landing right on one of her eyes as she closed it in time, the shot splattering around her area and tricking on her nose before the next one hit her check, painting it just as white as her mouth. His remaining shots not having the strength to even reach her chin as they fell on her breast, pooling around the valley which contained his dick as Kushina felt them stick and drag across her sensitive skin.

Releasing Naruto's member from her breast, the genin's rod slid out of its warm embrace as he gave a low groan. Kushina meanwhile, closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she basked in his semen, loving the way it stuck to her skin, its smell filling her nostrils as she was thankful for putting up that odor containing seal, making sure no one but her and Naruto would smell what had happened here. Slowly she narrowed open one of her eyes to look at Naruto, seeing that he was resigning his boundaries, she closed her eye once again until she was sure he was looking at her cum-stained body.

_'Ohh, is he gonna get a show._ _'_ She thought, as slowly and narrowly opened her eyes lids, making her gaze not directed at him but instead at herself as she looked down. She cupped both her breast and let out a low sigh of pleasure, before rolling her palm around its skin while tweaking her nipples slightly for him, and herself. Letting out a low moan from the feeling as she stopped, her head looking down at the pool of cum and spit between the valley of her breasts.

Using her hands she opened them up to the side, letting her hands slide in between them as she proceeded to smear the spit and semen around her breasts, the combination making her skin feel sticky while also causing it to glisten in the light, a small gasp escaping her lips as its cold temperature ran over one of her nipples. After she was done, she brought up her cum filled hands and began to lick them clean, making sure to suck all her digits sensually in front of Naruto, who squirmed in the bed as his hands gripped the bedsheets, his soft member pulsing as it started to come back to life.

But she didn't just stop at her breast, she also cleaned her face as well, thought to Naruto's disappointed, she didn't smear it all over as she had with her breast, instead just removing the semem which stuck to her skin, making sure to drink down every drop that entered her mouth with an audible gulp that made Naruto flinch.

Once she was done, the Jonin stood up slowly, hands bent up at her breast as she shook them a bit to get off any excess fluids off its skin, allowing her breast to jiggle a bit on display by her movements. And while Naruto was engulfed by what he just witness, he was suddenly grabbed by his collar with the hand belong to his Mother, only giving him a smirk before pulling him up off the bed and sending his lips crashing into her own, the Mother giving Naruto a passionate kiss that left the blonde stunned as he was lifted off the floor.

Kushina pushing her tongue past his lips as she used it to dominate inside of his, the small moans and whines he emitted making her smirk before she let go, letting himself drop back onto the bed as he tried to regain his breath. Gripping his chest he looked back at his Mother with amazement, the redhead grinning widely back at him, a teasing smile on her lips and she spoke with them, her tone equally teasing as she sang, _"Good-luck!"_

And with that, she vanished, leaving a panting Naruto back on the bed, his pants still wrung around his knees as he sat against the wall. The blonde balking as he tasted the new flavor in his mouth, apparently his Mother thought it would be funny to swap some of the cum she still had in her mouth in his. And he was not a fan. Balking at the taste and doing his best to spit it out, the Blonde glanced at the clock and seeing he still had a bit before the break was over. He decided to get some rest, only for his eyes to bolt open when a familiar voice was heard on the other side of the door.

_"Hey, he might be in one of these doors!"_ Naruko exclaimed, not knowing her brother was attempting to redress himself as quickly as he could, cursing under his breath the way his sticky and still spit cover dick clung uncomfortable to his boxers. He quickly tried to dry it with one of the bed sheets before stuffing his semi-erect dick back, luckily right before his Sister came through the door, a happy and proud expression on her face as Sakura and Hinata had their heads poked around the corner of the door as Naruko ran up and gave similar to what his Mother had before, only this time Naruto know it wasn't cause his sister was trying to tease him like that.

Letting go of him, Naruko dropped the proud look on her face as one of annoyance came over it, hands on her hips as she puffed out her cheeks, "Do you know how hard it was to find you?"

Naruto gave a nervous chuckle as he scratched one of his cheeks, he had a pretty good guess his Mother was responsible for that.

* * *

Kushina washed her face in the sink of the single bathroom provided for her, being the wife of a kage came with plenty of benefits, and she was more than willing to take advantage of them. Looking the mirror, she smirked at the sight of her still open breasts, their skin glistening with the spit and cum still stained on them. Putting her hand in a seal, she felt her breast becoming pressed together and being kept still, despite nothing being seen they were kept in place as the Uzumaki pulled her shirt down over it, before zipping up her vest, this time zipping it up all the way to make sure no part of her cleavage was seen.

While it was a bit tight, she didn't want to risk anyone seeing the way her breasts were glistening and make any conclusions, especially considering how many high-ranking officials were present. But, she could have a little private time to herself thankfully. Rubbing her thighs together the Mother cupped over her entrance, rubbing the palm of her hand over the skin tight fabric as she to ease the itch that was there as she let out a small purr. Before stopping, while she could've relieved herself now if she wanted, she decided it might be better to let Naruto do, his first lesson so to speak.

Making sure she was presentable, and adding a couple of seals to her body to help make sure nothing about the dead she just did could be noticed, Kushina left the bathroom, making her way back to arena she was watching the battles from.

But as she made it through the surprising desolate halls of this part of the arena, the sound of very powerful footsteps made her keep on edge, the chakra she felt making her skin crawl on edge, and any thoughts of pleasure she previously had were replaced a one of dread.

And the reason being soon seen to her as a large, white-robbed man rounded the corner, his body and the hat he was wearing immediate informing Kushina that he was the Raikage. Who walked up to her with a smile Kushina could tell wasn't true, whether or not he was forcing it out of anger or for something else she couldn't tell.

"Ah, Kushina, correct?" The Raikage asked, to which Kushina nodded in confirmation as she gave a small bow, he was the Raikage, and her years as the Hokage's wife made her know when to follow politics.

"Correct Lord Raikage," She told him, hearing the man give a deep chuckle that made her stomach turn, she had only met this man once, on the battlefield during the Third Ninja war with Minato, and while the exchange was quick, it was one of the few times she saw Minato get serious, losing his cheerful attitude to get them away, not wanting to risk her getting caught up in the battle.

But it seemed as though the Raikage didn't remember he continued to chuckle, "Good good, I sometimes have a hard time knowing which names belong to who," He joked, "This job does require me to know more than any one person should ever care for,"

Kushina was barely able to give a light smile back, "Well, that's politics for you,"

The Raikage just chuckled once again, "That is it," He agreed, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to make my ways back with the other Kage,"

"Of course," Kushina replied as she got out of the way for him to move past, only for him to stop, making her confused.

That was until he began to speak once again, "Oh, and by the way, congratulations on your son winning his battle, it sure was a spectacle," He praised, but before Kushina could respond, he turned his head to her, and she felt herself freeze from the cold, dead look in his eyes while his face held a twisted smile, "I'm sure his Father is real proud of him,"

And then, he walked away, leaving a stunned Kushina to process what had just happened, her back hitting the wall as she leaned against it, clutching her chest as she realized just how little she was breathing during the exchange. And she was starting to get a bad feeling about this tournament.

But out in the hall, the Raikage proceeded to turn into a darken, secluded room. Waiting for a moment, before two others arrived. One being Samui, as she quietly made her way in, the other, being a hooded figure. Turning to the two, the Raikage only said.

"It's time."

The hooded figure pulled their hood down, revealing a young woman, long, straight, greyish blonde hair, with a cloud forehead protector wrapped around her head. Before proceeding to look at Samui, who nodded in understanding.

* * *

"Hold still," Sakura told the blonde Genin as he laid down on the bed, her hands wrapped in a soft glow moving over his body to heal his body from all the bruises and cuts he suffered, the medical ninjutsu stinging in some places. But he could allow it, especially since she was helping to rejuvenate some of his own chakra supplies as well while Hinata sat next to him, his Sister having her arms crossed as one foot on the wall next to the bed while leaning against it.

"There, that should do it," Sakura stated as she removed her hands, losing their light glow as she saw Naruto sit up, moving and stretching his joints around to test them, a smirk forming on his face at how relaxed they felt.

"Thanks, Sakura nee-chan," He told her while flashing her a bright smile, the pinkette chuckling back at the boy as she playfully ruffled his hair.

"No need to thank me, just do your best out there," She replied.

But before Naruto could assure her that's what he planned to do, Naruko spoke instead, her face a bit serious as her tone match.

"Naruto, be frank, how'd you know how to use those chains?" Naruko asked, Hinata and Sakura looking at the boy curiously as well.

Naruto flinched a bit under their gaze, nervously scratching the back of his head as he searched for the right answer. To which Naruko only huffed in annoyance.

"Ok, let me rephrase the question, who taught you to use those chains?" She restated.

Naruto's eye widened as he immediately could answer the question as he said, "Oh, well there were two people, Ku, and Karini one-san." The boy hitting the bottom of his fist into the open palm of his other hand.

"Ku?" Naruko repeated in confusion, guessing this Karin was the other Uzumaki Sasuke spoke of.

Naruto nodded in confirmation as he explained, "Yep, that's the name the Kyuubi lets me call her," His tone simple as though what he was saying didn't matter much.

Both Sakura and Hinata's eyes widened at the statement, their jaws dropping a bit also, the Kyuubi allowing Naruto to call her by a name? How much of a relationship did the two have?

But Naruko meanwhile, didn't look all that surprised, instead, a mock smirk came on her face, her body being lifted off the wall as she bent down towards Naruto, her head being on the same level as his seal as she rested the fist of her hands on her hips.

"Well then I guess I better thank you, Ku," She stated, her tone half happy and half threatening.

_**"I fucking hate her,"** _

Naruto gulped at the growl that was heard in his head, Naruko seeing the reaction and smirking even more.

"Guessing she doesn't like me calling her that? Huh?" Naruko question sarcastically.

"I don't think she likes you in general," Naruto replied nervously.

Naruko just laughed, "Welp, as long as she's helping you without an ulterior motive, I'll live with it. Not to mention it looks like she's become attached to you, so that's nice." She stated before spinning on her heels and landing in the opposite direction, hands behind her back as she tilted her head backward, "Welp, I should probably go see how Konohamaru's doing so I'll be off, good luck in the rest of the tournament little bro."

And with a quick flash of a smile and wink, she walked out, Sakura also getting up and saying goodbye as the door shut behind her, leaving Naruto alone with Hinata as sat by his bedside.

Naruto felt himself become a bit nervous, despite what happened with the two of them in the halls of the arena before his match, he didn't exactly know what to say now. His face was heating up and bit and he could only bite his lip to keep himself focused. But a soft, warm, hand landed on top of his own caught his attention.

Looking to his hand he saw that it was Hinata's, the Hyuuga giving him a sweat, warm smile that made all the tension and nervousness he was feeling wash away while she softly gripped his hand, her thumb running over and stroking his skin in a calming manner that made him feel relaxed.

And while his low hanging head facing away from her, he could hear her giggle as she saw the smile on his face. But, when he looked back, something about the way she looked, her relaxed, welcoming smile, made him lean forward. And while Hinata stood a bit still at first, she eventually leaned towards him as well, the two staring into each other's eyes as they inched closer, their eyelids drooping as their faces almost reached. And, just as their lips were about to meet, a knock on the door caused the two of them to immediately shoot their heads away from each other, each of their faces going scarlet as they heard the door creak open.

"Naruto, you in here?" Hanabi asked, her head poking through the opening of the door to look inside, seeing both her teammate and her sister, "Oh,"

Responding to her entrance, the blonde genin did his best not to sound embarrassed, and a bit ticked off as well, "Hey Hanabi,"

Hinata also greeted her sister, but instead of words she simply nodded her head at the younger Hyuuga, who returned one of her own as well. Looking back at her teammate, Hanabi started to talk again, "It's almost time to head back and get ready," She informed the two, before closing the door.

Silence entered the room once again, except instead of the warm relaxing one that had been there before, this one held a thick fog of awkwardness. Naruto didn't know what to do, thinking on whether to try and kiss Hinata again or apologize and leave.

Unfortunately he wasn't able to choose one as he felt a soft peck land on his cheek, the flowing blue hair he saw to his eye telling him who it was as he saw her pull back, a slightly less embarrassed look than his on her face as she held clench one hand by her chest while looking away with a blush on her face.

"Good luck, Naruto-Kun." Hinata told him before quickly making her way out of the one. Leaving Naruto by himself as he rubbed the check where the peck had taken place, a sigh escaping his lips as he knew how close he was to having more than a peck, even if it still felt nice.

* * *

Naruto felt grateful the sun was setting on the side of the participants' box, otherwise, it would've been angled to shine into here while it began its descent as midday past. But it still gave more than enough light for Naruto to see the Participants in the room. Hanabi on one side, while the two cloud ninja, Samui, and Omoi on the other. Their teammate and Konohamaru's team not present.

The cloud ninja turned back at him slightly when they heard him walking up, before looking back out into the arena. While Hanabi face followed her friend as he came to stand next to her, the two resting their arms on the railing while leaning on it.

They saw the stands mostly fill, with a couple of people still filling in as the break was almost over. The combatants themselves staying quiet, no sound being made by them. That was until Hanabi spoke, her voice a low whisper so only he would hear as her face was hung down, "Hey, uh, sorry for, uh, ruining the moment between you and my sister."

Naruto's eyes blinked from confusion and surprise at the words as he straightened up, while Hanabi looked at him, the Hyuuga looking at him as well as her apologetic face turned into one of annoyance, Hanabi giving a huff as she looked back out into the arena, "Please, I know I'm not as socially knowledge as most girls my age, but I'm not an idiot not to see the connection you two have,"

Naruto didn't know whether to be shocked or scared that _Hanabi_ was able to notice that, was the way he acted around Hinata _that_ noticeable? But, with the sigh of his lips, he just accepted it, before leaning back onto the railing.

"No worries, I'll get my shot another time," He assured her, the Hyuuga nodding seemingly in acceptance, before she went still, only to turn her face at him in a confused look.

Naruto chuckled at the sight, "She's letting me take her out on a date when we get back to the Leaf." He explained nonchalantly, shocking himself by how easily he said it, while also feeling his heart flutter that he was saying something like that and it not being a joke.

She stood there still, her face in shock as she proceeded his words. Before eventually letting her face soften, but a smile didn't adore her face, instead, a stern look took over as she continued to look at him.

"Treat her right," She simply told him with a stern undertone, before looking back to the arena. He couldn't help but chuckle inwardly, she knew what his response would be, but she still wanted him to know she'd be paying attention.

And so, with that out of the way, the Genin saw Temari make her way to the center of the arena, her presence causing the crowd to stop whatever muttering was going on and becoming silent.

Bringing her fist to her mouth, Naruto could faintly hear her cough as she readied her lungs before her loud booming voice filled the arena.

"We will now start the second round of the tournament!" She declared, "May Samui of the Cloud and Hanabi of the Leaf make their way down?!"

And so, the two called combatants let go of the railing. Samui turning and walking away without hesitation, not even acknowledging the words of support her teammate gave. But Naruto did notice her give a glance at Hanabi that seemed off to him, and while he would've of thought of it more, the hesitation he saw entering Hanabi made him forget it.

Placing a hand on her shoulder the Hyuuga turned her head to him in a bit of confusion, her eyes seeing the bright smile as he simply said, "You got this,"

She gave a small smile back, "Meet you in the finals?" She questioned.

To which he smirked back, "You know it,"

And with that, the Hyuuga felt a new spring in her steps as she made her way down to the arena.

* * *

"Welp, guess that's my que to get ready," Deidara said, passing his hand over Sasori as a collection of small white puffs landed in the redhead's palm. The yellow-haired Akatsuki member getting up and walking off. Sasori meanwhile gave a twitch of his finger, revealing a thin, light blue stream emanating from it and splitting off, into the head of several different ninjas, Anbu include.

The small puffs of white that Deidara had given him transformed into miniature spiders, which he had discreetly cross over his chakra strings and onto the bodies of everyone he had under his control. In just a few short minutes, it would be time.

And so, with the twitch of his finger, he had the ninja move away, scattering all over the arena discreetly. Sasori turning around in his seat to watch the fight. As the Leaf and Cloud ninja charged at each other.

* * *

Hanabi couldn't believe it, thirty seconds in and she was already on the defensive, her hands barely deflecting the slashes of the katana as skimmed her form, and her opponent looked as though she wasn't even trying, especially since she wasn't putting her chakra into the blade. Planting her feet into the ground when Samui performed a downward slice, Hanabi focused her chakra into the sides of her hands, crossing them together above her head as she used them to block the strike, separating them as the blade was trapped in order to force her opponent off guard.

Taking the chance on her off balanced opponent, Hanabi quickly jabbed the fingers of her hands at her chest, hoping to take out one of her chakra points to slow her down. Unfortunately, it wasn't easy as despite being off balanced, Samui was able to shift her body sideways, and while Hanabi was able to get one of her chakra points, the blonde was able to quickly shrug it off as he hand grabbed Hanabi's extended arm, pulling her towards her and kneeing her stomach.

Hanabi gasped from the loss of air, the top of her body bent over while her lower back was raised up off the ground from the strike, her face soon joining it as Samui slammed the hilt of her blade into her face, sending her back a couple of feet. The Hyuuga was barely able to regain her composure as her 360 vision allowed her to see the chakra now flowing in Samui's blade, the cloud ninja swinging it towards her, a mass of chakra flying out of it and towards her. Hanabi brought the chakra into her hands as she used it to dispel the chakra slash the came towards her, the Hyuuga doing the same for the following ones Samui produced, grunting at their force as she tugged on.

_'Really thankful that Kushina used a lot of kenjutsu in training,'_ Hanabi thought as she kept deflected the strikes. Before finally finding an opening and using it to send her own.

"Eight Trigrams: Air Palm!" She cried before sending a volley of compressed air cannons towards Samui, the two locked in a struggle as their attacks kept canceling each other out. Neither slowing down in risk of the other's attack breaking through.

It was clear to Hanabi that this was not a battle that was gonna last long, once one of them made a big enough mistake, it would be over. And while that wouldn't be very entertaining for the audience, she knew this is what a typical ninja battle was like.

The two sent out one final ranged attack at each other, the force of their collision kicking up the dust around them. But even though Hanabi could see through it, reacted fast enough was another thing as Samui bolted through the dust with speed even a Jonin would be shocked by, a massive amount of chakra flowing through her blade. It was clear if that strike even grazed Hanabi, she'd be losing some blood.

Planting her feet into the ground, Hanabi decided this was her chance, and so, she extended her palms outwards, before beginning to rotate rapidly, a blue stream passing from her hand before she was engulfed in a blue spherical orb. Just in time too as Samui's strike hit.

Hanabi was shocked, the blonde's attack wasn't bounced off her rotation, instead, it was able to clash with it, and she could even tell it was digging her sphere as well. How strong was this girl? Just how much did she hold back in Moegi's match? And was this even her full strength?

_'No! I'm not gonna worry about that! I have to win!'_ Hanabi declared, before kicking up the speed that she was rotating at, her vision starting to become a blur as she felt Samui's blade stop digging into her rotation, but still clashing with it. They were now even in the clash, but that wouldn't be enough, Hanabi knew this was her chance, and she couldn't waste it with how powerful her opponent seemed.

And so, she decided to try something to boost her rotation, it would be a gamble, and it could hurt her more than her opponent, but she had to take the risk. Letting herself spin on the heel of one foot, her speed slowed down a bit, allowing Samui's blade to dig in once again. But that was only temporary, as the Hyuuga redirect the palms of her hands from facing straight out, to instead point in the direction they were rotating away from.

"Eight Trigrams: Double Air Palm Boost!" She shouted, feeling the concussive force of wind shooting from the palm of her hands, propelling her to speeds she never could've had reach with just her feet as her rotation was now more powerful than ever, and much, much harder to control. Hanabi feeling how just one slight shift in her heels would send her hurtling out of the sphere, and possible, straight into a wall.

Luckily for her, she was able to control it just enough for Samui to lose the clash the two were engaged in, her sword snapping from the force of the rotation as she stumbled back, unable to control her body as Hanabi quickly took advantage of the opening. Positioning her body in just the right way that as she slowed the rotation down, she had herself shoot out of it with force, a bit of recoil to her body gained, but she was able to take it as she slammed her palm into Samui's stomach, a burst of chakra taking out the vital chakra point present as the blonde gasp in a loss of air.

Samui stumbled back, her eyes dilating as her body shook from the internal damage she just received, her eyes just about able to take in the stance, body bent down, one side forward while the other shifted up, her arms extended on either side.

"Eight Trigrams," Hanabi muttered, her vision replacing the area around her with a black void, and series of lime green circles surrounding the ground beneath them, while the yin and yang symbols were between the two. And quickly, Hanabi bolted forward, using to fingers on each of her hands to hit two of Samui's chakra points.

"Two palms," Hanabi muttered, before repeating the action with twice as many points.

"Four palms," She said a little louder, the sound of her fingers bursting through the air being heard.

"Eight palms!" She shouted, not noticing the shocked look on her relatives' faces.

"Sixteen palms!" She declared, she may not have mastered the technique, but that was fine, learning this much on her own was enough, and right now, she was gonna go past her current limit.

"Thirty-two palms!" She exclaimed as she stepped forward, her last strike hitting Samui right in her below her neck and above her heart. The force of her last blow sending the cloud ninja to fall to the ground, Hanabi stumbling back as she felt her legs tense up before losing their strength, making her fall on her knees as she felt her fingers pulse violently as they ached. She pushed her body too far, maybe she could've handled it if she was at full strength, but like this, she just ended her chances at continuing to fight properly for the rest of the match. But luckily, it looked like that wasn't necessary as her opponent stood still on the ground, unmoving.

Hanabi felt a breath of relief escape her, especially when Temari came forward to check on the cloud ninja. It had her drop her Byakugan as she closed her eyes, letting her body relax and rest for just a moment. And a moment, was all it took for the battle, to change.

The sounds of explosions rocked the arena, shaking the ground under her as she lost a bit of her balance, her tired and batterard body barely keeping up, she looked quickly at the arena, and her eyes went wide with the large plums of smoke that was present all over the stands. The sound of people screaming ringing in her ears. Even without her Byakugan, Hanabi could feel the chaos that took over the stadium, the battle taking place between her and Samui forgotten as the specators scrablemed to get somewhere safe. But, it seemed her battle wasn't over.

The sound of dirt being kicked off behind her had Hanabi's eyes open from adrenaline, a familiar cutting of air going through her ears as the Hyuuga was barely able to concentrate enveloping chakra to her palms. No time to activate her Byakugan as she turned around on the ground and forced her legs to take her up. Putting her hands up to deflect the attack, only for the palms of her hands to be slash into, blood gushing out as her vision went a bit blurry, barely making out the form of Samui, who just moments before, was on the ground behind her.

Instinct had Hanabi attempting to get away, her legs sending her backs wards as she jumped, only for Samui easily jump to her with speeds even greater than before. Her blade slashing once again, with Hanabi feeling a pain in her legs, a warm liquid passing over her skin as she fell to the ground, unable to get up. Blood pooling around her as she felt herself start to go light headed.

Samui landed atop of her, her legs on either side of the Hyuuga and pinned her down, the side of her blade pressing into her airway. The Hyuuga staring up at her with the biggest look of confusion possible. The Cloud ninja seeing the look as she had Hanabi's head turn to the side, letting the Hyuuga look upon the other Samui's form which was on the ground itself from her attack.

"How?" Hanabi breathed, barely able to speak as she just wanted an answer.

"That wasn't me you were fighting," Samui explained, as Hanabi's eyes widen as much as they could, as the Samui that she had defeated on the ground got up. And did so without any effort. But what made her, and the rest of the audience gasp, was when her form change, her body becoming taller and slimmer, her yellow bob style hair turning into a long straight grey shade of blonde. Her attire also changing as they became short-sleeved black and purple blouse with long black pants, bandages seen around the skin of her arm and legs as her hands were encased in a pair of fingerless gloves, a blue chain of beads wrapped around her left hand and arm, with a red belt wrapped around her waist. Not a scratch of the damage she received from Hanabi being seen.

The newly revealed woman placing around her hand on her hip, looking at the Hyuuga with a smirk and look Hanabi couldn't help but resemble a cat.

"Gotta hand it to you kid, I've faced my share of Hyuuga's over the years, but your skills are something else," She praised, not seeming to acknolge the chaos around her.

Hanabi felt her head start to spin, her shocked eyes going back to Samui who pinned her from above, "You had someone else fight for you!?" The Hyuuga accused.

Samui only kept her blank expression, "Sorry if you felt hurt, but it was all part of the plan."

"Plan?" Hanabi repeated. But before she could ask any more, Temari stepped in, a look of anger on her face as she looked at the two cloud ninja.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Temari demanded, holding the hilt of her fan as she got ready to release it. But, she wasn't given the chance as the new cat-like woman swipe at her, the nails on her fingers turning into claws as they slashed through Temari waist. The Sand Ninja gasping in shock and pain as she fell to the ground, her fan falling next to her.

Hanabi's eyes shook in shook. And Samui whispered just a few words, to the Hyuuga, "The invasion, has begun."


	18. Invasion!

Naruto couldn't believe what was happening, in just a minute, what was about to be Hanabi's victory, turned into chaos, the stadium was filling up with smoke, but while everyone else was panicking, he caught the glimpse of Hanabi falling down in the arena below before the smoke blocked his vision.

_'_ _This isn't good!'_ Naruto thought as he gripped the railing, planing a foot on it as he was about to leap down. Only for him to stumble back after narrowly dodging a strike that would've gone through his head. His attacker, the only other occupant in the room, Omoi.

Getting into a defensive stance, Naruto had a clear look of anger as he faced the cloud ninja, already holding his sword out as he got into his own stance as well.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Naruto shouted angrily, "Our teammates are down there in danger, we need to go help them!"

But Omoi's face only held a stoic expression, no, that wasn't the right word, it was more forced, as though he was doing something he wasn't comfortable with, but had no choice. Even so, that didn't stop the cloud ninja from proceeding to swing his blade at Naruto again, who dodged it once again as he took out a pair Kunai and blocked the next strike, the two in a clash as they stared each other down.

"I guess this means your village has something to do with this, huh?" Naruto accused during the struggle, but Omoi didn't say anything as the two continued to try and overpower each other. Naruto clenched his teeth as he was given silence, "So, gonna play it like that huh? Well, don't expect me o go easy on you!"

* * *

Up with the three Kage, a large dome of sand shielded them and their bodyguards from the large explosion that occurred right next to them. Gaara barely seeing the look of terror on that one Anbu's face as his mask fell, the white spider hidden underneath expanding to as large as the man's body before detonating,

Letting the shield down, the Kazekage felt fear run through his body as his blood ran cold, the destruction and screaming of the audience ringing through his ears. But he was given no time to think about it as the sound of chattering wood alerted him to attack right next to him. Gaara didn't even need to turn as his sand grabbed the assailant, Gaara eyes moving to the side to see that it was a puppet, the brown wood present on its human-like face as a red-cloak worn by it. But with incredibly speed the puppet opened its mouth, a dart being seen launch out as Gaara's face briefly widened in shock, the dart's needle just an inch away from his head before being stopped.

Minata held the liquid filled dart in his hand for a moment before throwing it to the ground, its purple liquid pooling on the floor as he heard the sound of the puppet being crushed by Gaara's sand. Only for the sound of laughing to catch both the Kage's attention.

Looking up, the two Kage eyes blinked for a moment as the sky was filled with at least, 70, no 80, no, 100 puppets. All wearing a similar red cloak like the one that attacked Gaara. And in the middle was a yellow-haired man standing atop of a while flying creature, his black cloak dotted with red clouds.

The Kage quickly recognized who he was, Deidara, the yellow, ponytailed man held his hands to the sides in some sort of dramatic pose, a smirk on his face, "Art," He started, before throwing his hands forward, revealing two white balls of clay gripped in his hands as they left his gripped and fell towards the two Kage. Deidara putting his hands into a seal as he exclaimed, "-is an Explosion!"

The two balls of clay exponentially expanded, coming together. Minato threw a kunai high into the air, before launching himself towards the incoming explosives. His hand touching the two clay structures, before disappearing along with with the explosives, reappearing high above the stadium before disappearing once more back to the Kage's stands. The explosives in the air imploding with such destructive force that it was felt down on the ground.

The Hokage and Kazekage wasted no time in a counterattack as Gaara raised his hands up, the plug of his gourd popping out as his sand came rushing out of it. Pilling around his feet for a moment before rushing up in spikes towards Deidara. The rouge Ninja grinned manically, letting his flying creature fly to dodge the incoming spikes as they shot towards him and proceed to trail behind him, Coming at him at all side as they tried to capture him. The ponytailed ninja leaving small explosive birds behind him as they slowed down each spike of sand that tried to following him, their form thinning as they were stretched out while he flew towards the sky.

Only for one reaming spike of sand to beat him up there. Deidara's eyes widening in shock as the spike of sand dived bomb towards him. Only for him to smirk before jumping off his flying creation. Giving himself a big enough gap before bringing his hand to a seal.

Kyah!" Deidara shouted as his large creation exploded, blowing away any sand that was coming towards him. But, the man gave a surprised gasp as something came through the smoke, a kunai. But it wasn't just any kunai. His eye-scope allowing him to see its unique shape along with the markings wrapped around its hilt, knowing what it was.

"Oh no, you don't!" Deidara exclaimed as he threw a small piece of clay at the kunai, before detonating it and destroying it. The Akatsuki member smirked to himself for a moment. Only to go silent as another kunai of the same type appearing right above his face, Minato himself teleporting right above it. A Rasengan in his hand as a stoic look was on his face. Before slamming the Rasengan into the ponytailed man, his mouth gaping in shock and pain as the jutsu grinded into his skin.

However. Minato's face widened a bit in realization, seeing the man's face turn white before the Hokage immediately teleported away as the explosive clone detonated.

Reappearing next to Gaara, the two Kage watched as the explosion cleared, revealing Deidara once again, atop of a now bigger white creature he created, its form resembling that of a dragon as the many puppets above him scattered into the stands below, the sound of screams of pain, terror, and metal clashing heard in the air. But what caught Gaara's attention was the lone puppet that flew right next to him, his eyes widening in shock, along with Minato as the two saw its face, and just how much it resembled a certain kage.

The Third Kazekage.

Gaara clenched his teeth, before stepping forward. Sand pooling around him before he spoke, "Minato, Lord Raikage, please, I require your speed." He spoke to the two Kage, Minato saying nothing as he stood with his young counterpart. While the Raikage was standing up, the sound of lighting cracking being heard as his body was covered in it as it, his eyes covered by his hat as he stood there waiting.

"Please, with your speed you can evacuate and protect the citizens, I will keep these attackers at bay," Gaara stated, Minata nodding in understanding. Gaara raised his hands up, letting the sand pile under him and lift him up on its own platform. Staring down his two opponents as he got ready to attack. Only for his eyes to widen in shock as his stomach was pushed out, the sand armor on his lower back cracking as a muscular arm crashed into it.

"Lariat!" The Raikage screamed as his attack shot the Kazekage to the other side of the stadium. A loud crash heard as the top of the stadium was sent up as debris. The Raikage then proceeded to be sent to his own side of the stadium as Minato attacked him with a large Rasengan, sending him flying as he teleported away.

Appearing next to Gaara, Minato reached into the pouch on his back as his special kunai littered the area around them. Turning to the redhead kage he saw him on his hands and knees, the sand armor on his back crumbling and falling to pieces off of him as he coughed up some blood. The attack may not have broken the armor, but it's blunt force was more than enough to send shockwaves through it and into the Gaara's body.

Gaara placed a hand on his knee as he lifted himself up. Bringing his hand up he had his sand return to him once again, pooling around his legs as a determined look came on his face. Deidara and the puppet of the third Kazekage appearing on one end, while the Raikage appeared on the other, mostly unscathed as his lighting armor covered his body, his hair spiking out as his hat had flew off while he stared at them.

Minato's mind went into a bit of shock from the look of his eyes, gone was the fire and pride he also saw in Ay, instead, they were dead, cold, unflinching. And it immediately informed Minato, that this wasn't the same Ay he's battle once before, something was wrong.

"I'll handle the Raikage," Minato told Gaara, the young Kage nodding as he stared down his opponents.

"Now this is getting fun, huh?" Deidara joked at the showdown as they all got ready to battle.

* * *

"What the hell is going on!" Naruko shouted as she destroyed another puppet, only for two more to take their place. Her friends in a similar predicament as every ninja available fighting in the chaos while also trying to protect the fleeing citizens as well. And more fuel to the fire was added as cloud ninja began to join the fight, against them.

"Over here!" Ino and Tenten shouted to a pathway for the running citizens to run to, Sakura kneeling next to them on the ground as she treated a row of injured citizens.

"Don't let any of those puppets let a scratch on you, they're dripping with poison!" She warned, only for one of those puppets to appear behind her, a blade popping out of its hand as it attempted to stab the healer.

Only for it to be destroyed in a series of quick strikes, Sasuke standing in front of Sakura as the destroyed puppet laid under his feet while he held his blade in his hand. This was followed by a pair of cloud ninja appearing to the two, kunai clenched in their hands as they let out a battle cry to attack the two Leaf ninja. Before being taken out by a swift kick from Naruko and a jab from Neji. One puppet though, got through their grasp and headed towards Sakura, only for her to break it with the swipe of her hand, scattering its torn pieces across the wall.

"We need to split up and help defend the entire arena," Shikamaru stated as paralyzed multiple opponents around them, holding them long enough while Choji, Lee, and Kiba dealt with the puppets around them. Shino meanwhile had his bugs crawl onto the Shinobi and cover them. Shikamaru releasing his hold on them as the sound of their screams were muffled as their chakra was eaten away.

"Wait, where Hinata!?" Naruko exclaimed, not seeing her best friend present, catching the others' attention, all having confused look at their missing comrade.

* * *

It took longer than Naruto would've like to finally find an opening against Omoi in their struggle, taking advantage of it he made a clone and had it jump at the cloud ninja, bringing both him and Omoi over the railing as they feel down, Naruto himself jumping off the railing and into the smoked arena below. Landing right at the center as his eyes widened in shock, seeing Temari's unresponsive body as it laid on the floor before his attention was grabbed as he saw Samui turn to look at him, Hanabi's limp body held over her shoulder.

"Let her go!" Naruto shouted as he was about to charge at her with anger.

_**"Duck!"**_ Ku warned as Naruto felt his body reinvigorated by a burst of her energy which he hadn't felt in a while, allowing him to dodge the strike that came from his head out of nowhere, before, the assailant began to strike, Naruto seeing the claw-like hands as his opponent moved like a blur, the only thing allowing him to dodge being Ku's chakra as their attacks kept up, the genin barely able to get away with a graze. Only to finally use a kunai to pause a strike.

"Huh?" Naruto breathed in surprise he saw his opponent pause for a moment, revealing a tall woman with long grey shaded blonde hair, her eyes resembling what Naruto could only describe as a Cat catching its prey as she looked at him for a moment before her body became a what he could only describe as lines, and for a moment, he swore he saw the image, of what he could only describe, as a blue, flaming cat as it extended a large paw at him. Being brought out of it, Naruto felt a pain in his stomach. His eyes went white as his mind went blank for a moment as he was pushed back, the shock causing Ku's chakra disappearing from the shock as he fell to the ground, clenching his stomach in pain as he groaned.

"Hmm, so I guess the rumors are true, you do hold the Kyuubi's power," The Assailant stated, Naruto barely able to open one of his eyes at to look at her, a tear running down his face as he laid on the ground.

But he didn't have a chance to try and talk to her as the Cat-like woman turned to Samui, hand on her hip as she said, "Its time for us to go,"

Samui nodded in understanding, Naruto seeing them bend his knees as they prepared to jump away. Naruto's eyes widening in fear as he tried to stretch a hand out at them.

"Stop!"

Naruto was shocked by the noise, cause it wasn't his voice that said it, and it seemed to grab the attention of the other two girls as well, as they turned to look at its source, Naruto barely able to turn his head as well, his eyes widening as he saw Hinata standing there, fear present in her body yet how she stood ready to fight.

But before the Cat-like Laby could attack, Hinata said something that made Naruto's blood run cold.

"Take me instead!" Hinata stated, no hesitation in her voice that got a look of shock on Samui, while the cat-like lady continued to stare the Hyuuga down, her stare asking her to explain herself.

And Hinata did just that, "You're both cloud Ninja, and considering your history with the Leaf, there's only one reason you would try and take Hanabi, for the Byakugan!" Hinata stated before bringing a hand to her chest, "As part of the Main branch my Byakugan is also unmarked, meaning it won't be sealed away when I die, so, please, let my sister go and take me instead," She begged.

But the cat cloud ninja kept up her stare, "Why should we take you up on that offer?" She questioned, only for her eyes to finally widen in surprise as Hinata pulled out a kunai, and used it on herself, the bluenette gritting her teeth as her weapon dug into her thigh, leaving the weapon embedded there as she immediately found herself limping as some blood seeped through the wound, looking at the Cloud ninja with a determined look.

"Now I can't escape or fight properly, and even if I did, your skill level already far surpasses mine," Hinata stated, the greyish shade blonde cloud staring down the Hyuuga for another moment, before responding.

"Alright," She simply said, giving a look to Samui, who nodded in response as she placed the limp Hanabi down, her wounds despite being bad were already dried up and bandaged a bit up to prevent her from bleeding out. Hinata limping towards the two as the Cat like cloud walked to her.

"Hinata! What are you doing! You can't do that!" Naruto exclaimed, fear and anger in his voice, it was taking al his will to fight through the pain and shout his words, with Hinata pausing for a moment, head hung down before turning to him, flashing him that same sweet smile that also brought him peace before.

"Naruto, tell everyone, I'm sorry." She simply said, sadness clear in her voice as she did her best to give a happy facade of an expression.

Naruto had tears running down his face as Hinata continued walking to the cloud Ninja, "No, no you can't do this, what about Hanabi! Naruko! Me!" He shouted as his words were slurred by his tears.

But, without looking to him, Hinata only said one last thing, "Naruto, take care of yourself, and look after Hanabi, please."

And with that, the cat-like cloud Ninja knocked her out with a swift jab to the neck, catching her falling body as she slung it over her shoulder. Not even turning to look at Naruto as she disappeared in a blur.

Samui though stayed for a moment, looking at him with a slight sorrow expression, before turning away as well. Ready to leave as well. Only for the sound of a roar caused her to turn back, seeing Naruto charge at her with red eyes, whiskers thicken as his nails sharpened.

And throughout the stadium, a number of high leveled shinobi, including his family, paused as they felt it pass through the air.

The cloud ninja was barely able to block his first strike with her blade, her chakra running through it to increase its strength, Naruto not caring as the palm of his hand dug into the blade's sharp edge, digging into his skin as he gripped the metal, a crack forming on the blade. Only for him to disappearing in a blur and reappearing next to Samui, catching the girl off guard as his fist was filled with emotion, Samui barely able to bring her elbow up as she heard the bone crack from the force of his hit. Sending her flying a few feet back as she skidded to a stop on her feet. Naruto charging right at her.

Only for her teammates to suddenly appear next to her, Omoi and a bandage up but still capable Karui readying their blades. No words exchanged as they focused their chakra into their blades before they became enveloped in an aura of lighting as they all swung their blades as one. The chakra leaving their blade and coming together in a single bolt of lightning that struck the charging Naruto. Causing an explosion and loud boom, a dust cloud kicking up around him.

But when it settled, Naruto stood there, bruises littering his torn clothes, but seemingly undamaged, still, it was clear the attack did something, and Naruto knew, he could've taken an annoying injury if he was closer.

_'I have to take these guys out and get Hanabi somewhere safe, then go after Hinata!'_ He thought as he bent his legs a bit, _'Ku!'_  
He felt his body become invigorated once again, his body becoming covered in a reddish aura. His teeth and fingers sharpening even more as his instincts became more feral.

**_"I can only lend you this power for less than a minute, if you're gonna face off against the one who took Hinata you'll need the rest!"_** Ku warned him.

Naruto only gave a silent response, before charging at the three, the ground beneath him shattering as the dirt was kicked up in his wake, a predatory gaze in his eyes.

"Damn his fast," Omoi commented as he got ready in the front, the most uninjured of his comrades as Karui took the middle, Samui in the back, a slight look of worry on her face, but determination held firm.

"We've practiced more than enough with Lord B, as long as we work together, we can defeat him," She told her teammates as they nodded in response. They weren't chosen for this exam at random, no, especially when one of them, Samui, was already a Chunin. They had the potential to become the next greats of their Village, and they were given more than enough training for it.

Omoi attacked first, his blade full of chakra swung as the chakra in it was released at the charging Naruto, who with an intense growl swung at it with his hand, destroying it like it was a fly. Karui moved next, slamming her hands into the ground as she blocked the front with a large wall of earth. Only for it to immediately crack as Naruto slammed into it. More cracks forming as he kept pushing through it.

"Omoi! Sword!" Samui exclaimed, her teammate passing her his blade as she caught the blade in her hand while throwing her smaller lengthened one into the air. Her left arm still battered as it limped on her side, but she could still use the second sword as she grabbed it with her mouth.

She immediately filled both blades with her chakra as she charged at the earth wall, reaching it just in time as an enraged Naruto broke through. His body still in the air as Samui jumped to meet him, spinning her body like a top as her body became like a tornado, her blades sticking out of the sides as she enhanced the chakra in her blade with Lighting.

Naruto though, couldn't care less, even when both the blades struck, roaring with ferocity as he swung his arm at the spinning human in front of him. His hand clashing with one of her blades for a moment, before his overwhelming power destroyed the blade, causing her spinning to stop as they were still in midair.

Still, Samui didn't slow down, with the blade held by her mouth still intact she slammed the side of her head into Naruto's stomach, causing the Jinchuriki to howl in anger. Ignoring the pain as he brought his hands together in a fist before slamming it down atop of her. Sending her crashing down to the ground.

With the blade still in his stomach, Naruto let himself fall to Samui, ready to crush her and end this fight. Not realizing just how much he was letting instinct take over. He was never one to go for the kill, he never enjoyed it. And he usually would've left her just lying there. But now, with his beast-like mind, all he could do was end the fight, and make sure, there was no chance of it starting again.

"Oh no, you don't!" Karui shouted in frustration, pushing her injured body to its limits as she slammed her feet into the ground, creating an earthquake which moved the injured Samui away as Naruto slammed into the ground. A look of annoyance on his face as he looked at her, ready to charge and take her out instead. Only for her to kick her feet to the ground instead, creating a line of earth that shot up as it moved towards her target, except that target wasn't Naruto.

Naruto felt his mind clear for a moment as he saw the attack go towards Hanabi, no way would she see it coming. And going at speeds he never felt before, he pushed the chakra he was given to its max as he dashed across the stadium in a blur. Picking up Hanabi just before the attacked hit using the rest of the chakra to shield himself and her as it landed against his back.

A cloud of dust was kicked up before dissipating away, showing an exhausted Naruto, Hanabi behind him as he stood ready to protect her, is red aura gone as he passed the time-limit Ku set for him, his face was now filled with worry.

"Hgah!" Naruto gagged, coughing up a splat of blood as he realized he still had a blade in his stomach. Grunting, he grabbed the hilt of the blade, before pulling it out, blood pouring out of his wound before a thin cloud steam could be seen, his wound already healing up. With his current chakra levels, Naruto knew he wouldn't be able to dominate them as he had with Ku's, still, with how exhausted they also looked, Samui getting up with bruises covering her body as her eyelids narrowed from the pain she pushed through. He knew he could at least protect Hanabi.

"Naruto,"

The blonde's eyes flicked from the call, the voice weak but still recognizable, looking back he saw Hanabi still on the ground, barely able to stay conscious as she looked at him with tired eyes and said, "Save-, save, Hinata."

And with that, she went limp, passing out from her wounds. Naruto gritted his teeth, his anger soaring, but, also, a bit of confusion, why was this happening, what was the point of this? Why were they even fighting?

"Why is this happening!?" Naruto shouted at the cloud trio, who stood silent, irritating the blonde even more, "Why are you doing this?! What's the point?! Just to get the Byakugan?!" Naruto screamed, a few tears coming out of his. He could hear the screams of terror coming from the stands, innocent screams, of people getting caught in the crossfire.

But still, they were silent, Naruto's knuckles going white from how hard he was clenching them, "Do you not care! Care about the innocent people who are getting hurt from this!?"

And he finally got a response, one from Karui as she clenched her teeth as a look of self-conflicting frustration came on her face, "You don't know what we think!" She shouted back, anger in her voice.

But Omoi just placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a longing look to calm her down as he just shook his head. Samui taking a step towards him with her limping body as she clutched her battered left arm, her face not as stoic as before, but determination on it instead.

"It doesn't matter how we feel," The bob-hairstyle Blonde stated, clenching her teeth a bit as she continued, "We are ninja, and in this world, there is no right or wrong, just choices, and we're following the choices our leaders are making, cause they are the ones protecting the Village we hold dear."

Naruto felt a bit of emotion go through his head, it seemed clear they didn't like this too, but to just follow orders like this, how did this help their Village? How did this help anyone?

But before he could respond, the combatants widened their eyes in shock as a large cloud of ash formed in between them, making its way towards the cloud trio as they quickly jumped away. A voice being heard as it screamed, "Fire Style: Burning Ash!"

The sound of metal clanging and screeching rang through the air as the ash cloud ignited, its intense heat being felt as the explosion pushed both Naruto and the cloud trio away from each other, Naruto grabbing Hanabi so she wouldn't get caught up in the attack as well.

Naruto held onto Hanabi as the smoke dissipated, three figures jumped in front of him as they held their backs to him, facing down the cloud trio as Naruto's immediately recognized them.

"Konohamaru!" Naruto exclaimed at the sight of his friend and his teammates, glad he was safe.

Konohamaru turned his head back slightly, and gave the blonde a grin, "We'll take them on!" He stated, bringing his arm up towards Naruto as he shouted, "Get her to safety and do what you gotta do!" He told his friend.

Naruto though, for a moment, faltered, leave them? To fight these guys by themselves when he could've helped. He was about to protest, but the look he, and his teammates gave him made him stop, before nodding his head at the trio. Making a clone, he gave Hanabi's body to it as they each went in different directions, the clone also picking up Temari's body on the way.

Konohamaru and his team stared down their opponents, all equally battered and tired from their fights. Getting into a stance, Konohamaru stared down Samui as he shouted, "I heard what you said about orders and your wrong!" The Sarutobi stated, Making the cloud blonde blink as he continued, "Your leaders should be protecting your Village, yet they choose to fight an enemy they didn't need to make on the other side of the continent."

He could see Samui's gaze falter for a moment, a look of distress on her face, but it was soon shaken off as her determined look came back on her face, the same with her teammates as well, before all 6 of them charged.

* * *

Sakura was in one word, irritated, hands over the body of a citizen as Ino kneeled behind her, attending the other Citizens needing medical attention as they stayed in the small safe room she and her friends made for the citizens. Kiba, Lee, and Shino protecting the entrance, Shikamaru out there as well to lead them while Sasuke guarded the outside by the wall, making sure not a single enemy came in through the windows. TenTen was setting up defense all around them to make sure they would be protected on all sides. The only people missing Hinata, which had Naruko and Neji running around the stadium trying to find her and help others.

The sound of doors bursting open grabbed her attention, her eyes widening in shock as she gasped, seeing Naruto bringing in a injured Hanabi and Temari, the Hyuuga's body covered in bruises as her bandages were soak in blood while Temari's had a rough gash at her hip. Naruto though, look almost as bad, seeming like adrenaline was the only thing keeping him up as he placed his teammate and Temari down next to his Sister's teammate. Before turning to run back out. Only to be stopped by Sakura as she grabbed his arm.

"You can't go out there, not like this!" She beckoned him with concern in her voice, her shout catching Ino and even Sasuke's attention as he finished the last enemy who tried to get inside, pecking his head in to look at Blonde.

Though he just shook off her grip, "I have to save Hinata!" He shouted with determination as it caused Sakura to pause and widen her eyes in shock along with Ino and Sasuke. Naruto continuing to speak as she saw him clench his hands.

"They were gonna take Hanabi, I tried to stop them, only to get my ass kicked in response," He stated with a shaky tone, "But just as they were about to leave, Hinata came in, and offered herself in exchange, and they took her."

Sakura's mind went into fear for her friend as she heard Ino gasp while Sasuke gave a tsk, as Naruto said one last thing, "I have to go and do something,"

And with that, he puffed away in a cloud of smoke, Sakura blinking her eyes for a moment, before gritting her teeth in frustration, Sasuke being the first to speak as he ran past her, muttering something like _"That idiot,"_ as he ran out of the room and into the stadium. The pink-hair though, stayed silent as she went to help her own two patients, she had to focus on those she could save in front of her, and she could only pray that the ones out of her reach would be alright.

* * *

Kushina grunted as she slashed her katana through her opponent, the cloud Ninja's body falling to the floor as their blood pooled around them. Like her son, the Redhead didn't like the sensation of killing, always finding it a waste of life on the battlefield, but in this world of Shinobi, it became as essential as breathing. And while she got used to it, she could only hope that the next generation could take steps to minimize this problem. Though, she would be lying if she said a part of her wasn't happy taking down cloud Shinobi, especially since they tried to kidnap her many times as a child.

Shaking her head away from the memory, the Uzumaki standing ready to protect the door behind her which held many high profile people, including the Feudal Lords of both the Fire and Wind. The sound of wood chattering coming to her ear as she saw a pair of two red-cloak puppets make a beeline for her, another pair of cloud ninja ready to slice them down.

But Kushina only smirked as the sound of chirping began to defean her ears. A familiar blur going past her as a blue concentrated crackle of lightning formed on their hand as it ripped through the enemies in front of her.

Kakashi held his hand extended out from him as he stopped, his slanted headband now straighten out around his forehead as he had one eye closed, while the other showed off Sharigan, hearing the sound of his opponents fall to the ground as their current waves of enemies were defeated giving the two a moment to rest. They were currently tasked with protecting the VIPs, while Jiraiya went out into the two to fend off the enemies there.

The two Jonin though, turned their heads towards the hall as the sound of footsteps came running up, Naruko booking it as she ran towards them. A look of worry on her face as she stopped in front of them.

"Naruko, what's wrong?" Kushina asked in worry for her daughter, only for the blonde quickly ask, "Have you seen Hinata or Naruto?"

The blond's Sensei and Mother both look at each other, a bit of shock in their eyes before closing them and shaking their heads solemnly, causing the blonde to growl in frustration as she punched the wall next to her, cracking it.

"Damn it, she's been missing since the attack started!" Naruko shouted with worry, clear fear in her voice, "And than there was Naruto spike in chakra just a bit ago!". Her head hung low as she looked out the small window present in the hallway that showed the arena, only for her eyes to widen as she saw her Brother scale the arena's walls.

"Naruto?" She exclaimed, catching Kakashi and Kushina's attention as they saw the figure out the window as well, even from this distance they could see the hurry he was in, along with the damage he seemed to have taken as he was pushing his body past its limits.

Naruko was ready to jump through the window and follow her Brother, but just as she was about to jump, she was forced to dodge.

"Naruko, look out!" Her Mother exclaimed as the blonde was barely able to jump back as a hand whizzed past her face, it was detached from a body, but unlike the puppet opponents she's been fighting, it was made with flesh and had a multitude of grey tendrils attached to it as it was pulled back.

Naruko jumped back to her Mother and Sensei as each of them got into a fighting stance. The hand retracting to a figure who came up the staircase, wearing a familiar black robe with red clouds that Naruko recognized from the people who tried to capture years ago. Only this time the person who wore it was different. A tall man, his head visible as it donned a grey hood, while a black mask covered his mouth the only part of his face being uncovered being around his eyes at their pupilless green color stared down at the three ninja, his tan skin shown off as well. A forehead protector was wrapped around his head, with its symbol showing it belonged to the Hidden Waterfall, but a scratch was carved through it.

The man gave a light chuckle as he stopped up at the last step, eyeing down his opponents, with his glare staying on Naruko, his aura causing the Jinchuriki to take a step back as her Mother and Sensei stood in front of her, intent on protecting her.

"I expected there to be some high-level opponents to be present, but I'm a bit disappointed that they only two people guarding the door, despite your titles being The famed Copy Ninja and Wife of the Hokage here to protect the valuable people inside," The man stated, "But, despite making my job of capturing them a bit easier, I simply can't let this chance to capture one of our targets slip through my grasp as well." He continued as his gaze on Naruko sharpened, the leaf Ninja readying themselves for battle.

"Let's even the odds a bit, aye?" The Akatsuki member stated before discarding his cloak, tossing it aside as he revealed his shirtless form underneath, his body covered in large grey stitches as he wore matching grey pants and sandals. He then proceeded to bend down, grunting as the Leaf trio saw his back start to contour and expanded before two black blurs popped out and made their way on either side of him. Both forming a body of black tendrils, a mask present to represent their face as the one with red markings on its mask looked like a demonic tiger, while the one with yellow markings on its mask took the form of a strange four-legged creature with wings.

The leaf trio could immediately feel the power each of the forms held, but it wasn't over as Akatsuki member's body began to change as well, the grey stitches he had thickening his arms and legs seemed to detach a bit, allowing a multitude of grey tendrils to slither out.

Kushina gripped her Katana tighter, recognizing who this man was, Kakashi realizing it as well as a single sweat formed on the side of his head.

"The immortal Kakazu, said to have fought the First Hokage himself," Kakashi stated, gathering a gasp from Naruto as she looked at the opponent, feeling her arms shake a bit in fear, despite all her training, she still felt weak compared to this group, that fear she had when that shark skinned man, and the one she knew as Sasuke's brother completely shut her town in the motel without so much of a sweat. And the pressure she felt from this member was off the chart, he fought the First Hokage and survived? And was still living? Not to mention he was just one member of a group that was coming after her.

Kushina, seeing her Daughter's fear, snapped her out of it as she said, "Don't falter Naruko! These people will not hesitate to take you or Naruto if they have the chance!" She shouted, "Kakashi and I will hold this one off, while you find your brother and keep him safe, we can't afford the Akatsuki capture one of you!"

Naruko blink, mind clearing up as she realized, this group wasn't just coming after her, they were also coming after her Brother, and she felt her blood boiling, anger filling her eyes as their blue shade turned red. The whiskers on her face thickening as body transformed a bit, a red aura enveloping her as she looked at her opponent ready to kill.

Kakuzu chuckle under his mask, "Looks like this is gonna get a bit more interesting."

* * *

Outside the town, the cat-like Cloud Ninja from before was carrying an unconscious Hinata over her shoulder, jumping from tree to tree as left the newly created battlefield, her mind was still racing with emotions that this invasion was really happening, but even so, she had a job to do, and she was currently waiting for her other partner to show up.

_"Aye, Yugito, slow down my girl, or else you'll leave me in the dust!"_ A voiced rapped, the woman now known as Yugito rolling her eyes in annoyance as the source of the voice came next to her, their body being tan skin with a muscular build with stylized whitish blonde hair, a tatto present on their exposed right shoulder and left cheek. Their attire consisted of a single of their village flak jacket covering parts of their top as a single shoulder strap went over their shoulder, a long white scarf and a red rope-like belt wrapped around their neck and waist respectively as their eyes were covered by a small pair of oval shaped sunglasses. Grey pants for their bottom while they also wore the standard shin and hand guards for their Village. But what was most striking about their appearance was the several swords strapped to their back, all having a red hilt.

This was her senior, her sibling in trial due to their similar natures, a fellow Jinchuriki, Killer B.

_"Who's the girl on your back, yo?"_ Bee question with rhyming tone, hands pointed at Hinata on her back, _"She doesn't look like the one we were told to take, yo."_

Yugito didn't look at him while she replied, "She's her Older Sister,"

Bee's face shifted a bit at the information, looking back at Hinata for a moment, "The same one we tried to take a decade ago?"

Yugito was a bit surprised that he didn't rap his answer, his tone being simple, still, she simply nodded, hearing Bee sigh next to her.

_"I don't like this, yo,"_ He muttered under his breath. Making Yugito tsk in annoyance as she finally turned to look at him.

"Your brother was the one who ordered this, so why are you complaining?" She asked with a growl.

Bee, though, was unflinching as they kept their pace, "And?" He simply replied, causing Yugito to look at him with widened eyes as he continued, "We told him this was crazy, and he still did it," He stated, his tone becoming rougher, "When this is over, Ima give him a beating he'll never forget!"

Yugito grimace, keeping silent as the two kept on, not noticing the three cloaked men who were tailing them from a good distance away.

"Agh, why can't we just take em already!" A frustrated and annoyed voiced stated, his cloak confirming his allegiance to the Akatsuki, his distinct purple eyes closing in frustration as his medium grey hair blowing with the wind. A large scythe strapped to his back.

Besides him came a chuckle from a shark-skinned man, holding a large bandaged object on his back as he kept his face forward, though the grin on his face was still visible, "Come on Hidan, don't tell me your still annoyed cause you had to come with us?" Kisame asked.

Hidan face though, became more frustration as he glared at his comrade, "Damn right I am, I could be back in that town offering more sacrifices to Jashin than I've ever dreamed us, but instead I have to help capture these two, and keep them alive at that!"

Kisame though, continued to chuckle, which further irritated Hidan as he gripped the hilt of the scythe on his back, ready to slice away at his comrade. However, the black-hair man in between the two decided to stop it before this could get any worse.

"Enough," Itachi stated in a stern tone, his gaze still unflinching as his voice held almost no emotion in it, "We need to let these two be a good distance away from the town before taking them on, lest we want to draw any attention."

Hidan just gave a tsk, lowering his hand from the hilt of his blade as he kept forward, Kisame continuing his chuckling. Itachi though, turned his head back slightly, his eyes looking behind him as well as his partner notice this, looking at him with a questioning gaze while still keeping his grin.

Itachi turned his head back front, "We're about to get some company from behind us," He told the two, Hidan giving a maniacal grin as he grabbed the hilt of his scythe once more as he looked at Itachi with an excited grin on his face, only for it to fall from Itachi's next words, "I'll deal with them, you two keep trailing them in the meantime."

And with that, Itachi stopping his leaping, allowing his two comrades to go ahead as he grabbed the trunk of the tree whose branch he was standing on, waiting patiently for the one who was making there way to them.

* * *

Naruto was jumping from tree to tree, his body was aching, his muscles tired, his vision a bit blurry. He still hadn't completely recovered from his fight with Konohamaru, and here he was, pushing himself to limits he would have trouble dealing with. And he couldn't use Ku's chakra, not yet, even as the fox was doing her best to get more ready for him

_'Quit complaining! You can do that when you get Hinata back!'_ Naruto shouted to himself inwardly as he shook his head. His eyes regaining some better vision as they started to focus again, the vast path of trees and branches still kept on going. But, as the forest's landscape moved past him, for a moment time seemed to slow down, as on one of the branches, out of the side of his eye, he could've sworn he saw someone else standing on it beside him, a black cloak with red clouds dotting it. He was so mesmerized by the sudden and unique appearances, that he never had a chance of seeing the kick that came just after.

**_*Whack!*_ **

Naruto gasped as he was sent flying completely parallel of where he was going, The air in his lungs lost as he could only choke out a response as his back hit the trunk of a tree. The Blonde barely able to catch himself as he fell forward on the large branch in front of him, panting on his hands and knees as tears came out of his eyes. Not even being able to hear the sound of sandals walking onto the wood due to the ringing of his ear, his attacker coming closer.

Naruto was barely able to see the pair of sandals in front of him out of his peripheral vision. Taking all of his will power to look up, seeing the man's cloak once again, but it was his face that shocked him. The the Headband around his head showing it belonged to the Hidden Leaf, except his had a scratch right through the middle of the symbol. But what caught his attention the must, were his eyes, red, 3 black tomes dotting in a circle inside it, he looked like Sasuke.

Itachi just continued to look down, his gaze unflinching as his face showed no above the boy as his body was doing everything it could to stay conscious.

Naruto didn't know how long he stayed like that, just panting for breath as the man continued to look down on him, sweat pouring down his face, he didn't know what to think anymore, and then, the man spoke.

"So you came," Itachi spoke, his voice as emotionless as his face, Naruto barely able to convey the anger in his face, fighting through the pain, the man continuing to speak, "I wonder, will you have enough hate in your body to kill me this time,"

_'This time?'_ Naruto was barely able to think, what was this guy talking about, and why did he try and kill him, and why was he wearing a Leaf Headband? But one thing was right, he hated this man, cause right now, he was stopping him from getting to Hinata, his eyes turning a brief shade of red as he got ready to let it all out against this man, who continued to look down at him unflinching.

Only for him to turn his head slightly to the side, and Naruto's hearing was able to clear up just enough to hear the cracking sound that came closer.

"Chidori Blade!" Sasuke screamed as he came blitzing through, anger clearly visible on his face as his electric covered blade went into Itachi's body, the two brother's eyes meeting for a moment, with the younger one's already turning into a familiar red-shade. Sasuke drove his blade through Itachi's body, only for no blood to spill out, instead, the man's body changed shape, as it transformed into a multitude of crows which flocked away.

The flock of birds flying around the two before conveying on a branch a few trees away, Naruto seeing the body of the man who just attacked him take shape as Sasuke stood in front of him.

"Sasuke Nii-San?" Naruto was barely able to cough out.

"You're an idiot, you know that, running off on your own." The Uchiha berated as he stared down his brother, barely able to keep his rage in check in order to talk to the boy.

"Hi-Hinata, I still need to get to her," Naruto said next, using all of strength to pick himself up as he was barely able to stand, his body limping as he kept his balance atop the branch. Not able to notice the shaky grip on Sasuke's hand as he held his blade.

Sasuke only gritted his teeth in frustration, "Hebi!" He shouted, a trio of figures appearing around him and Naruto as they each stood atop of different branches, Naruto recognizing two of them as Suigetsu and Karin, while the third member was one he never saw before. A tall, muscular young man with spiky orange hair and red eyes, his face displaying a calm demeanor.

"Take Naruto and protect him, keep going down the trail, rescue Hinata and get back to the town as soon as you can, got that!?" Sasuke commanded, the trio giving a simple nod as Naruto felt himself grabbed by Suigetsu, the Blonde not giving a chance to speakas he was carried away with the three, leaving Sasuke and Itachi alone.

Sasuke took a deep breath, his shaking grip on his blade dissipating as he looked back to his brother, not a single word said, before the two battled.


	19. Jinchuuriki

Minato could feel his frustrations rising with each passing second of the battle, teleporting all around the roof as the Raikage lag only a moment behind, already knowing where most of his actual marked kunai's were, his speed just as impressive and dangerous to the Hokage as they've ever been. Especially when he was limited by the fact he couldn't just move indiscriminately with their location, there were too many innocent people in the arena below them, and he couldn't risk them being in the crossfire, so he had to stay on the roof, and keep Ay's attention.

Now, while Minato had faced the Raikage many times during the last war, the two had never truly fought with all their might, usual their meetings were quick, meant to allow one of their squads to retreat while occupying the enemy, and while Minato had usually come out on top during those quick exchanges, Ay improved with each meeting, and now, as the Raikage, Minato saw how Ay had improved during that time, and it was not good for him.

Minato, while he didn't like to think of himself as superior, knew he outclassed the Raikage in a variety of fields, even speed. But, if there was one thing that the Raikage had that made up for all those details, it was his defense, cause for Minato, he couldn't actually directly damage him, not while he was wearing that lighting armor at least.

_'Just as problematic as ever,'_ Minato thought as he teleported once again, his chakra gathering and swirling in his right hand as he raised it up towards the fist that had already anticipated his location, a serious look on the blonde's face as his Rasengan clashed with Ay's lighting covered fist, the force in both their blows sending a shockwave through the air as the tiles under them shook and cracked, and this was just a casual blow from the two.

Even so, it gave opening he needed to stop being on the defensive, and so, quickly putting his hands in a seal, he slammed his hands into the ground, his many scattered kunai stated to glow, a bright glowing line of chakra connecting them, the main parts of it forming a circle, with the Raikage right in the center. Ay barely paid it any mind as he charged right towards Minato, taking advantage of the small moment of the Hokage's falling defensives as he cast his Jutsu. Only to feel his body start to slow down as walls started to rise from the circle he was in, his body becoming slower and slower, until his fist stopped, right at the edge of the circle as the walls finally rose above him. His body completely still as he couldn't move it, while Minato continued to look at his opponent dead on, Ay's fist on the other side of the chakra barrier he created as it was aimed straight at his composed face.

Minato gave off a sigh of relief at the fact his time-stopping barrier worked, he took a gamble with this jutsu, especially since it was still just a prototype. At the moment, his jutsu could only make the objects inside motionless and still, the only problem was, he couldn't actually do anything to what was trapped inside, or risk the jutsu's effects backfiring on him.

Standing back up, Minato took a look at the cold stare the Raikage gave him back, Minato hadn't figured out what it was, but something was off about Ay, and while his attacks were still as ferocious and unrelenting as ever, they weren't filled with that same energy he felt in their previous battle, no, it was more like a cold weight was the force behind his blows.

Minato shook his head at the thought, looking back to the other battle on the stadium's roof, or more accurately above it, the Hokage saw Gaara on his sand platform, its form soaring through the air as he did battle with the puppet of the Third Kazekage, which was currently also somehow using Magnet release, and Deidara, who was throwing bomb after bomb at the Kazekage as he kept on shouting something about art.

While Minato may not have been the best at aerial combat, he knew he could offer up so much needed support for his fellow Kage, and perhaps take out one of his opponents before having to come back and deal with Ay. It may have been minuscule, but Minato could make out the crack forming in front of the Raikage's fist. His barrier wouldn't last more than a minute if he kept it up, but, for Minato, a minute would be enough. The Hokage taking out a scroll from the pouch on his leg as he opened it up, a seal painted as its contents as he gave a release, providing the Kage with a couple of extra of his special Kunai, one of which he proceeded to throw up into the sky.

Taking one last look at Ay, Minato could only hope that the plan he was formulating in his head would be enough to deal with the Raikage, cause otherwise, this battle might last all day. And he could not afford that. And with that, he teleported away.

* * *

"You know you're gonna have to bite a bite harder for it to work,"

Naruto grunted from comment, only for it to be muffled by the skin of the arm his mouth was biting into. Kain gave a slight wince as Naruto's teeth finally sunk into her flesh, allowing her regenerative abilities to fuel his own. Naruto still was confused as to how she was able to do this, but from the numerous bite marks he saw over her arm, he guessed she was used to this sort of thing. Feeling his strength quickly return to his body.

He was no longer being carried by Suigetsu though, no, now he was piggybacking on the other person in this group called, Hebi, the orange haired one he learned was named Jugo. Who was apparently really good with animals considering how he was communicating with them. Even so, something felt off about him. Suigetsu meanwhile, was in the front of the group as they went on the trail.

_**"You really should've gotten more help,"**_ Ku stated to the young teen with a condescending tone, the forest landscape she created being lost to her as she found herself back in her cell, her hands in a seal as she was doing everything she could to get just a bit more chakra ready.

Naruto though, gave a pout as he kept biting into Karin's arm, _'Yeah, I know, I may have been a bit too hot-headed when going after Hinata, but, WHAT ELSE WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO!'_ He replied back with his thoughts.

Ku's response coming in a growl, before her words were heard, _ **"Don't you yell at me!"**_ She barked back, causing Naruto to wince in fear, her voice alone causing him to sweat a bead. Continuing she said, **_"If our opponent is who I think it is, and I'm pretty sure it is, we're in trouble,"_**

She told him, Naruto swearing there was a hint of uncertainty and fear in her voice as she continued, **_"And from this familiar feeling, she's not alone,"_**

_'Not alone?'_ Naruto asked.

**_"This chakra I'm feeling is unmistakable, the opponents your about to face are Jinchuuriki,"_** She stated, Naruto's eyes widening from the information, but Ku wasn't done, **_"And that's not all, those guys in cloaks, I'm pretty sure they're a part of this invasion as well,"_**

_'Cloaks? Like the guy, Sasuke Nii-san is facing off against?'_

**_"Yes, and from what I can determine, they're bad news,"_ **

_'How do you know? I don't remember ever seeing them in my life, so if you remember them, does that mean they've been around for a while?'_

**_"No, not before, it took me a bit, but I recognized the cloak from my other half,"_ **

_'Other half?'_

_**"The one inside your sister,"** _ Ku clarified, making Naruto start to think of a multitude of questions, only for Ku to quickly answer them as she continued, ** _"Sometimes, I get flashes of what the other me has seen when things ge a bit heated on her end, specifically when she's scared, and a few years ago, I got one of him,"_**

Naruto listened intently, feeling his heart start to race as Ku continued, **_"The memories a bit fuzzy, but the point is, he had a partner, and it took the appearance of that Jiraiya for them to leave, also, they seemed to be apart of a larger group."_**

_'Great, so basically what you're telling me, is that I'm about to go against a bunch of monsters,'_ Naruto thought with a roll of his eyes before asking, _'But what about these guys? Are you telling me we don't stand a chance?'_

**_"If you try to fight them seriously, no, you don't have a chance,"_** Ku told him with absolutely no hesitation in her voice, as though she was simply stating a fact, Naruto feeling a bit of his pride hurt.

Ku though, wasn't done talking, _**"But that's why you shouldn't try and face them,"**_

Naruto blinked at her words, only for her to continue, **_"You just need to rescue Hinata, so trust me when I say, when you get her, run,"_**

Naruto grimaced a bit from the suggestion, while he may not have liked running away, he knew she was right. Finally letting go of Karin's arm, the girl brought to back to her body as she used her sleeve to wipe some of the drool and spit he had left. Naruto meanwhile, got off of Jugo, the man only giving a glance as he started jumping off the branches besides them, his orders were to protect him and save this Hinata, and he intended to fulfill those orders.

Naruto though, had a look of determination on his face, feeling enough of his strength having returned to him while most of his wounds were healed, he may not have been at full strength, but even so, he felt ready to save Hinata. Show his determination his pace started to increase, causing him to past by Suigetsu, who gave the blonde a surprised look from his eagerness, before getting a grin as he matched the blondes pace as well. Kain meanwhile giving a sigh as she shook her head, as she and Jugo picked up their pace as well.

* * *

Kisame felt a grin start to come upon his face, "My my, looks like we're about to get some company,"

Hidan meanwhile, turned his head to give the man a confused look, "Company?"

Kisame's grin widened as he kept facing forward, "Looks like Itachi wasn't able to stop all of them," He told the Jashin worshipper, who soon got a wicked look on his face.

"Does that mean I can kill'em!" He asked with glee.

Kisame chuckled at his comrades attitude, though unfortunately he would have to bring it down, "Actually, I got a bit of an idea, if these guys were able to get past Itachi, they might be a bit of a pain to deal with, so why don't we let them pass us, and slow down our targets instead?" The shark-man suggested, Hidan's face immediately dropping, along with the arm that was about to grab the hilt of his scythe.

Kisame though continued to chuckle, "Don't worry, I'll let you kill off any of the ones we don't need alive, so let's just slow down our targets in front of us, and find a place to watch this little battle."

* * *

Kakuzu grunted in annoyance as he exchanged blows with Kakashi, the two high-level ninja not missing a beat as their limbs glanced one another, each of their blows just barely missing their mark as they increased their ferocity. But as they continued their trade of blows, Kushina silently made her way behind the Akatsuki member, her eyes focused like they never were before as her steps were silent. Katana clenched in her hand as she gave it a swung filled with no hesitation at her opponent.

Only for her eyes to widen in shock as she heard a crackle of lighting. Her instincts taking over as she barely dodged the shot of electricity that came from Kakuzu's back, tearing through the robe as it shot bast her, catching a glimpse of another one of his mask as being the culprit of the attack as it was still attached to his back.

Kakashi meanwhile had to jump back as Kakuzu unleashed a fury of tendrils from his mouth, barely missing their intention of piercing the leaf Jonin body. The Akatsuki member giving a chuckle as his two opponents kept their distance from him, the semi-immortal man discarding his torn robe from his body as he got into a stance again.

Naruko meanwhile, was furious as she was attacking the two black bodies of tendrils that had spurted from Kakuzu, not able to land the finishing blow on either of them as the other stop her, their bodies regenerating the wounds they had quickly. What made it even more difficult for her to deal with was that the two could apparently also use wind and fire jutsu as well.

She felt her claw-like nails start to extend more, her red eyes flashing as she considered taking her transformation to the next step and bolting out of her with raw power, while her two opponents blocking her exit.

Only for her eyes to return to their shade of deep blue as she felt a hand land on her shoulder, the blonde turning her head to see her Mother next to her, still in a defensive stance as she calmed her daughter down, "Don't flare up," She warned the girl, "Stay calm, wait for an opening, he's been alive for more than half a century, simply overpowering him isn't enough."

Naruko blinked her eyes from the words, before taking a deep breath. Her Mother was right, she needed to wait and find an opening. And, it seemed that fate would allow her to take that chance soon.

Kushina felt her cheeks puff as her hands performed a quick set of seals. The sound of water sloshing in her mouth before she had it erupt through her lips. Shooting the stream straight at Kakazu. The missing-nin meanwhile, countered the shot with one of his own. The attacks canceling each other out.

But Kakazu wasn't given a moment to rest as Kakashi dashed towards, his hands forming a set of seals he copied just a few years earlier. Kakuzu faced the approaching ninja as he got ready for the attack as Kakashi exclaimed, "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

Using the large number of puddles created by Kushina and Kakuzu, they all came together as they formed the image of a dragon, that roared as it approached its target. Kakazu quickly made his own set of seals as he slammed his hands down, raising the ground beneath him as he created a barrier of earth, shielding him as the water dragon slammed into it.

But as the water crashed against the earth, a stream of it made its way around the barrier, pooling just behind Kakuzu as he kept his barrier up. And the form of a familiar redhead kunoichi rose from it.

Kushina quickly tried to swing with her sword as she rose from the water puddle, only for it to be blocked as it clank against Kakuzu's wrist guard, as he grabbed her hand. Pulling her completely out of the puddle and slamming her into the earth wall with a grunt.

Kushina though, only gave him a cocky smile, Kakuzu's eyes widening as he heard the sound of multiple birds chirping, followed by a crack in his stone barrier. Kushina's smile turning into a smirk as her body started to dissolve into a liquid, before showering his body in water as the clone dissipated. Kakuzu though wasn't given the chance wipe it away as his stone wall broke, revealing Kakashi as he burst through with his Lighting Blade. The Jonin's body a blur as Kakuzu could only gasp as he felt it pierce his chest, his entire body also executed from the water that drenched him.

Kakashi made sure to dig his Lighting Blade deeper into his opponent, hearing the missing-nin grunt before coughing up a spurt of blood. Kakashi sure he had pierced his heart as Kakuzu's body slumped. Kakashi taking his hand out as the Akatsuki member fell to the floor.

Out in the rest of the hallway though, the two black mask bodies saw their master fall, appearing distracted for a bit. The real Kushina and Naruko immediately took advantage of it, and without even a glance to the other, knew what to do.

Naruko opened her palm next to her Mother, using her other hand to swirl her chakra around it, forming the basis of a Rasengan, but Kushina also joined in, both her palms covering her daughters as she poured her own chakra into the jutsu as well, and her nature element as well.

The two trained in more than just Naruko's Kyuubi control.

Kushina removed her palms from Naruto's hands as the blonde raised her hand up, it was larger than a regular Rasengan, gone was the usual sky blue color, now a deep shade of ocean blue was seen as its form appeared more bubbly, a small core of the Rasengan seen inside of it as the bubble like form around it swirled, the water trapped inside moving like it was in a whirlpool.

The two masked opponents turned back to Naruko sensing the danger her new attack held, they joined their bodies together, creating an even larger form as they opened the mouths of their mask, a ball of wind and fire were forming.

"Go, Naruko!" Kushina exclaimed, Naruko running down at the two masked opponents with her parent-child combo jutsu. The elemental balls her now joined opponents formed seemingly near completion before they shot it out at her, the wind and fire joining together in a destructive force as it made its way to her.

Naruko though, just slammed her attack forwards, clashing with the dual elemental attack. Grunting as its force caused her to dig her feet into the concrete form, before giving out a shout as she shouted, "Water Style: Rasenwhirlpool!"

Her bubbly ball of water left her hand as it now decimated through the dual elemental attack, making its way to the joined masked opponents before engulfing them in the ball of water. The bubble expanding to completely engulf the monster as it was torn apart in the insides, multiple whirlpools forming inside the bubble as it forced the body of the monster in multiple directions, their force cracking both its mask before exploding as it sent a rain of its water everywhere.

Naruko took her opening as she ran past the torn and splattered corpse of the monster, making her way outside as she ignored the stinging in her hand, she took one look around the tattered arena, before seeing the direction she saw Naruto take off in. She had to protect her Brother, and nothing was gonna stand in her way.

Kushina gave a sigh of relief, a small hopeful smile on her face that her children would be alright, as long as they had each other. Turning her head to the side, she saw Kakashi standing over their beaten opponent, Kakuzu's body unresponsive as it laid still on the ground.

Walking up next to the panting white-hair jonin, Kushina placed a had on his shoulder, a bit exhausted herself from their battles, especially from her combined jutsu with her daughter. The two looked at each other with a nod, Kushina motioning her hands in a set of seals as she got ready to seal away the body of their opponent for further analysis.

"Did you really think it would be that easy to defeat me?"

Kushina and Kakashi froze from the voice, belonging to the man that laid defeated beneath their feet, only it didn't come from his mouth.

Turning to the source, they saw the bodies of one of the cloud ninja they had defeated earlier stand up, and judging from his wounds, it looked like they only knocked him out instead of killing him. But what caught their attention, was the mask now worn across his face, Kushina recognizing it as the same one that shot lighting at her on Kakuzu's back.

Before the two could say anything, the masked oppoenet grabbed ahold of two other bodies near him, both appearing to still be breathing. Only for that breathing to stop as he plunged his hands in both of them, pulling out both of their hearts, before shoting out a wave of lighting at the duo, forcing them to jump away from both it, and Kakuzu's fallen body. Landing a good couple fo meters away as they saw the masked opponent standing over Kakuzu's body before inserting the two hearts he aquired into the lifeless body beneath him, before Kakuzu's shot out its familiar grey tendrils and engulfing the body of the masked oppoenent.

Kushina and Kakashi got back into a defensive stance, as they now saw this battle was far from finished.

* * *

Yugito and Bee didn't even need to look at each other for the two to acknowledge they were being followed, not that is was unexpected, just that they didn't know who was the one following them. But they also felt something was off, and it wasn't about them being followed.

Without a world the two ceased their jumping, scattering from each other as they hid in the trees, eyes closed as they used their other heightened sense to try and find out who was watching them. They couldn't see them, they couldn't hear them, but they could feel them, as though it was a predator, and they were prey.

A bit away, a familiar looking shark-skinned man reached a lake that was close by the two Jinchuriki, grinning as he stepped in it.

"This should slow 'em down,"

Yugito and Bee's eyes shot wide open as they heard the sound of water rushing, the two turning their heads as they saw a massive wave approaching them. The two immediately started to jump away as the wave crashed down, its size engulfing the ground below, the two Jinchuriki going to higher grounds on the more sturdier trees while the frailer ones were forced off the grounds as their roots were pulled out, having them tumble down below.

Yugito grimaced as she held onto the tree-top, her cat-like claws digging into the bark of the tree as she held the unconscious Hyuuga with her other. Taking a glance at the forest grounds below, she couldn't even see the dirt on the ground as the rushing water covered it, shaking her tree with its force. Turning to her partner, Yugito saw Bee had already known what to do as he was jumping towards the lake in the distance, both having sensed the brief, yet massive chakra spike that came from it.

* * *

"Where'd all this water come from!?" Naruto exclaimed as he held onto the bark of the tree he was standing on with a death grip, its frail body shaking from the water. Only for its roots to be pulled out and Naruto feeling it start and tip, a look of shock on his face as the tree began its descent towards the ground with him still on it.

In his rush to escape, Naruto accidentally made the mistake of putting to much force in his jump, causing the branch beneath him to break apart before he could leave it, leaving him failing in the air.

Only for Naruto to see the blur of a shadow pass over him, before gripping his shirt and pulling him away from the ground. Looking at his savior, Naruto saw Jugo giving a stoic face as he gripped him, landing on a stable tree nearby. Letting go of his grip on the boy, Naruto felt his feet touch the ground once again.

On the branch in front of him, Naruto saw Karin give him a look, while Suigetsu crouched on the branch as he looked down at the passing water below. Naruto noticed how quiet the group seemed to be, the air around them becoming tenser. It only being broken when Naruto heard Suigetsu speak.

"It would take a pretty powerful Water-Style user to make a wave this big," He commented, "Guess this means they know we're on to them?"

Karin scoffed at his words, "Than why would they use the technique so far away?" She questioned with a hand on her hip, "If they knew we were on to them, they would've tried an ambush."

"That's because the attack wasn't for us,"

The group turned to Jugo, the orange hair man bending his arm towards his chest as he looked at the bird resting on it, the creature chirping something at the man before flying away, allowing Jugo to continue.

"The animals have informed me that it seems only three people have passed by this way, two wearing gear of the Hidden Cloud," He stated, "I'm assuming the unconscious girl one of them is carrying is Hinata,"

"Than we need to hurry up and catch them!" Naruto exclaimed, ready to rush ahead to catch up, only for Karin's stern voice to stop him.

"With no plan?" She berated him, causing the blonde to slump his shoulders as the redhead continued, "I could feel the massive spike in chakra a bit before the water came rushing in, its no joke, one wrong move and we could be killed."

Suigetsu sighed at the remark, "Man, these two cloud ninja must be monsters, huh,"

Jugo was the next to speak, "Unfortunately though, it seems as though they weren't the ones to do the attack,"

This piece of information had Naruto and Suigetsu turn to the man with shocked expressions, Karin's though, was kept stoic as the man continued, "The animals told me they seemed just as surprised by the water like us, they didn't see it coming. Which means we're dealing with another player on the field,"

"So an Ally?" Naruto proposed with an uncertain tone.

"Or a possible enemy," Karin replied back.

Keeping his stoic expression, Jugo spoke once again, "In either case, it seems as though this other player has disappeared for now, but, they've slowed down our target, so we need to take this chance while we have it." Facing Suigetsu he continued, "Suigetsu, use the water to our advantage to reach our targets, we'll follow closely behind,"

The white-hair man gave an annoyed sigh, "So I guess this means I'm the one who's gonna be the one to distract them, huh?"

"We'll wait for your signal," Jugo replied as he turned away, giving a nod to Naruto and Karin before leading the three towards their target, Suigetsu giving a loud groan before diving into the rushing water below.

* * *

Back at the town, the current master of all the puppet foot-soilders stood alone in his hiding place, at least, he was.

"And here I thought I would be able to keep hidden a little while longer," Sasori stated as he hid in his little hallway, out of the way in the Stadium and mostly desolate, except for him, and his new guest.

"Sasori of the Red Sand, to think I would get the honor of meeting you," Kankuro stated with glee as he moved his hands, his puppet crow moving forward in front of him as the two faced their opponent.

Sasori shook his head as he turned around to face the Junior Puppet Master, still wearing his cloak but had it opened up a bit, a multitude of chakra strings coming out from a hole in his chest while the rest of his body was hidden. Proceeding to extend one of his hands before flicking it, a plume of smoke appearing in front of him before his chakra strings attached to what was summoned.

"I wonder how much entertainment you'll give me," Sasori wondered as his puppet Hiruko stared down his opponent.

* * *

Yugito leaned her back against the tree trunk, her stance seeming relaxed, but her sense still alert as she waited for Bee to return. The Jinchuriki taking a glance at the unconscious Hyuuga in front of her, her body slumped over the branch to secure her.

Closing her eyes for a moment, the blonde allowed herself a moment of rest, only for someone to interrupt it.

_**"You know if you feel so bad about what you did to that kid, you could just try and apologize."** _

Yugito scoffed at the voice inside her mind, _'Just cause I have some sympathy for him doesn't change what needed to be done.'_

**_"Even so, I could feel your faltering for a moment when you looked into his eyes, you could've knocked him out with that attack, but you held back,"_ **

Yugito gritted her teeth at the comment, trying to find some sort of response against the voice, only to get nothing, a sigh escaping her lips, _'Fine, I held back.'_ She admitted, _'I could tell this girl we're taking away meant a lot to him. And since he's a Jinchuriki, I'm guessing this girl was one of the few to not treat him like some sort of monster. Like they did with you and me, Matatabi,'_

**_"And yet you still choose to carry out this mission?"_ **

_'In a perfect world, this mission shouldn't have been necessary, but we don't live in a perfect world,'_ The Jinchuriki countered, _'I do what I need for my village, even when I personally don't agree with it.'_

**_"Very well, if that's what you think, I'll leave you be, just make sure to stay alive, you have been my favorite Jinchuriki to be sealed in,"_ **

Yugito couldn't help the small smile that came on her face, _'Of course.'_

And with that, the Cat inside of her stopped talking, leaving Yugito at peace once more, the water below her having lost its rushing pace, running through much more slowly as it came through.

_*Drip_

Yugito's eyelids opened within a moment, turning her head to the water below as she brought a hand to her mouth, taking in a deep breath before exclaiming, "Mouse Hairball,"

Several blue flames shot out of her mouth as they headed straight towards the muddying waters below, an explosion of steam erupting as the flaming hairballs made contact with the water.

Yugito kept her guard up as she the steam cleared, seeing a couple of bubbles forming on the surface of the water, extending her claws, she prepared to attack, only to be greeted with the sight of a couple of lifeless, roasted fish.

But Yuigito didn't let her guard down, instead, a look of annoyance came on her face, "You think I'm a fool?"

The cloud-ninja heard the sound of something shooting out of the water behind her, the noise of water slurring filling up her ears as she turned around with a nimble twirl, her nails sharpening and extending their length as she brought them up together in a cross in front of her.

**_*Clang_ **

Suigetsu gave a grunt as his blade was stopped by the claws of her opponent, who gave him a stoic, emotionless look as he found himself on the defensive as he was pushed back, the water connected from his lower torso to the water below rotating with more strength in an effort to increase the force of his attack.

Suigetsu cursed the fact his blade couldn't turn into water as he could, the slight disturbance it gave as he dragged it under the water being enough for his opponent to know his location, even after using the cover of her first attack to sneak up behind her.

"So, I'm guessing you're the one who brought all this water?" Yugito questioned as she slowly and menacingly forced his blade back more and more, her question drawing on the fact half of his body was currently water.

Suigetsu had half a mind to tell her it wasn't him, but opted to stay quiet and focus on not losing the struggle he was currently engaged in, _'How strong is she? And what are her nails made of?'_

"I'll take that as a yes," Yugito stated before puffing up her cheeks again, Suigetsu's face itching into one of fear as he knew the heat alone would evaporate parts of his body if he wasn't careful.

But he wasn't able to react as she let her flurry of flaming blue projectiles shoot past him, surprising him before he noticed where they were aiming at. The fireballs converged at the base of his little water vortex, causing him to lose the support from under him as he was immediately overpowered by Yugito. Her cat-claws sliding past his blade as he began to fall, his face sliced through as a mildly look of curiosity came upon Yugito face.

_'So he can turn his entire body into water, huh,'_ The nimble Blonde thought with curiosity as she landed on a nearby branch, _'_ _Interesting,_ _'_ Suigetsu water deteriorating body falling down below. Only to hear the sound of flames burning loudly, a series of tree branches breaking apart filling the air behind her.

Not even turning to face the incoming attack, she jumped swiftly and swiftly to the side, glancing at the blur that flew past where she was perched, an orange-hair man, but what caught her attention was the fact half his face was was a shade of darkish grey, appearing a bit scaly, contrasting the other parts of his skin which were pale. Not to mention it seemed as though he tried to punch her, his fist enlarged with a similar shade of darkish grey as it was covered in scales, along with a series of holes with blue flames shooting out of them, helping to launch him forward.

Jugo grimaced, faced spun in frustration and confusion at her dodge, angry that both she was able to dodge his attack so easily, and that none of her blood was shed.

_*swoosh_

Jugo's eyes widen in surprise when Yuigito appeared in front of him, his body still suspended in the air as he was rocketing forward with the thrusters on his arm. Even so, Yugito held a stoic, cold look on her face, her hand moving swiftly, and gracefully as she brought it up in front of him. His gasp not being able to escape his lips before she brought it against the side of his arm, sending him crashing down to the water below with a loud and large splash.

Landing on a nearby branch, Yuigito stance seemed just as stoic as her expression, not relaxed, and not tense, her ears wiggled a bit to help alert her to sound of water rushing and slurring below, a large, blob of water with arms and a head forming right in front of her, the top of Suigetsu's body inside along with his blade, his face holding an annoyed look, a tinge of fear also present.

"Ahhh!" He roared, charching with his new larger form, Yugito jumping away easily from the attack, a tinge of curiosity on her face, intrigued as to what types of abilities her attacks seemed to have, she did have a cat's curiosity after all. Only to also share their hatred for getting wet as she grimaced as a small droplet of water landed on her face from the splash he created when crashing into the tree.

Hiding behind a tree trunk a few trees away, Naruto's eyes widened in astonishment, was this the power of a full-fledge Jinchuriki? She was dodging those attacks so gracefully with visibly little effort. He thought Suigetsu and Jugo seemed pretty powerful, Suigetsu, in particular, using way more strength than the battle he had with him. And they were being dismantled like they were nothing.

_"Don't lose focus!"_

Naruto was brought back to reality by Karin's harsh whisper, the redhead Uzumaki giving him an annoyed look, yet her face seemed to try and look strong, but he could see the tinge of fear behind it as well.

_"Sorry"_

Karin shook her head, _"Just don't do it again,"_ She told him before taking a look back into the battle, _"We get one shot at getting Hinata while the other two keep her distracted, not to mention we still don't know where her partner is, so the longer we wait, the more likely he is to show up,"_

Naruto took a look about back at the battle, seeing Yugito dodge each one of Suigetsu's attacks as she jumped from tree to tree, but what he focused on was the unconscious Hinata a few trees away as her limp body hung over the branch, somehow being undisturbed from the battle taking place near her.

Turning back to Karin, he asked, _"What about Jugo? He looked like he took a bad hit."_

Karin just chuckled as she heard the worry in his voice, seeing just how naive he was about the man as she gave a slight smirk, _"Trust me, Jugo's far from being done,"_

As if on cue, a large blast of water shooting to all sides as it caught the attention of the participants, a look of shock on Naruto's face, while Yugito raised an eyebrow. But Suigetsu and Karin only smirked as they saw the blur that came out of the blast that headed straight towards Yugito, a look of mild surprise on her face.

Though, she didn't flinch as Jugo was in front of her, his entire body now covered in that dark greyish skin, looking more like armor this time around as she saw the scythe looking appendages that were attached to his elbows, his back covered in those thruster-like appendages she saw on his arm earlier.

She was a bit stunned by his new appearance, not caring about his large fist that was heading straight towards her. Even so, instinct was enough for her to bring her hand to it as she opened up her palm, its skin being engulfed by a blue flame for a moment as black markings appeared over it, but the main change was her palm itself, as it gained the soft, black pads of a cat's paw, the flames acting as hair as it tucked itself between the pads. The paw allowed her to cushion the blow of Jugo's fist, preventing any damage, yet still enough force in it to launch her back a few trees.

**"I'll kill you!"** Jugo roared with a bloodthirsty tone, stunning Naruto a bit from his change in personality, Karin's face remaining stoic while Suigetsu had a look of annoyance, not knowing Jugo would see him as an ally in his bloodlust state.

Yugito though, had more of a look of curiosity on her face as she grabbed ahold of a branch as she flew back, rotating her body around it before landing back on her feet. She had to admit, this guy's bringing more and more of her curious side as the battle continued.

Whenever her cat-like instinct came out, she lost a bit of focus, as she found herself more intrigued by her opponents that worried, and with a devilish grin, she wondered if she'd have a bit more time to play with them before Bee came back.

"Now's our chance!" Naruto exclaimed as he saw Yugito forced in the opposite direction of them and Hinata, already jumping off his branch as he went towards Hinata.

Karin was just about to join him, only for a shiver to go down her back, her body frozen as she sensed something, barely able to call out to Naruto.

"Wait!"

But Naruto didn't hear him, now only two branches away from Hinata, but just as he was about to leap to the next one, he felt the world go into slow-motion as a figure descended onto it.

_"Yo,"_ Killer Bee greeted.

* * *

"I've just recived the report that two halves of the ninetails have left the arena," An orange hair man asked with a simple tone, multiple piercings visible on his face as he gave a blank stare at the masked man in front of him, the purple circles in his eyes giving a piercing aura, "it seems the plan to take the Hyuuga girl was enough to get the boy to follow, along with his sister." He added, before changing the topic of their conversation as he asked, "Why have you prevented me from joining the battle?"

But the masked man wasn't fazed by the look, the single hole in his mask for his own eye having him return his own stare, unflinching with the 3 tomes visible by his red filled eyes.

"As I said, it's too early for you to show up, we need you to conserve your energy and wipe them all out at the end when they're exhausted." The Masked-Man told him with a firm tone, "I already have the Raikage fighting the Hokage, who it seems I'll have to help at the moment, and with Deidara taking on the Kazekage we have them both occupied, but even still. Jiraiya might be enough to keep you at bay and give them a chance to join, and we can't risk a prologue battle here."

"And why is that? We are already showing them much of our members abilities with this battle?" Pain question with his palm raised up.

Only for the masked man to chuckle, "Which is why at the end, you'll make sure none of them live to tell it.

* * *

_"Yo,"_

Naruto was still processing those words as time slowed around him, the new figure now in front of him as he blocked his path to Hinata.

But, Naruto didn't stop, his eyes flashing red as his nails sharpened and extended, whoever this was, Naruto wasn't gonna let him get in his way.

Leaping at him with enough force to break the branch of the tree he was on, a kunai in his extended hand as he got ready to blitz through the man to get through Hinata.

Only for the sound of clashed metal to ring through the air as Naruto's attack was halted by a single blade the blonde didn't even see him pull out, no emotion on his face as Naruto was caught off guard by the thin blade, its hilt red with a yellow end. But it still was durable enough to stop his strike.

Naruto grunted as they continued their struggle between kunai and sword, his weapon wobbling as he kept trying to push through, while the sword stayed firm, unmoving as it kept him back.

Bee couldn't help but give a smirk, _"Oh, so that's how you wanna greet, ay? Though judging from your eyes, you don't seem so fine, yo,"_ Bee rapped at him, causing the blonde to look up at him in a mixture of anger and confusion, _"I can tell who you are yo, but do you know who I am thou?"_

Naruto felt his body freeze as he saw the image that appeared behind the man, a large, eight-tailed Octopus with the head of a bull and horns to match. The pressure he gave as he stared down at the boy making Naruto almost flinch in fear if someone didn't stop him from doing so.

**_"Oh hoo hoo, I'm am not gonna let you guys humiliate my Jinchuriki a second time, first times his own fault, but now you're hurting my pride as well,"_ **

Naruto felt his body being engulfed in a red aura, rushing through his body like never before, was this the chakra Ku had been saving up? Cause this was more than anything else he's ever experienced.

_**"Don't hold back,"** _ The Fox mentally told him, and Naruto gave a bit of a wild smirk.

And just like that, Naruto disappeared in a flash, moving faster than he's ever experienced as he bounced off the trees around him, a blur to Bee, who stood on his branch, unmoved by the current display, only moving his hand to take out another of his blades as he held one in both hands. Having to put both of them to use as the blur that was Naruto shot right at him, only to stop in front of him and make a hard turn, the elder Jinchuriki seeing the blonde now held a kunai in both hands as well, as he used one to try and slash at Bee's legs, only for the elder to deflect it with his blade.

The exchange repeated over and over against the two, Bee moving his blades seamlessly around his body to deflect Naruto's blitzes, the Blonde responding by going faster and faster, which Bee was able to match.

But every time they clashed, they didn't notice what the beasts inside them were doing.

* * *

_**"Been a while, hasn't it, Nine-Tails?"** _ Eight-Tails questioned as the two looked at each other in their pitch blank plane, the only things visible being their beast forms as they stood across each other. Using the number of tails as their names, as most of the tailed beast stopped using each other's names long ago since the formation of the villages.

**_"I can say the same to you, Eight-tails,"_ ** Ku responded back with a low growl, which the Eight-tails took note of.

_**"A bit hostile aren't we,"** _ Eight-Tails pointed out at his nine tailed counterpart.

Who proceeded to scoff, _**"Let's just say I'm a bit annoyed at the situation, you and Two-tails, being used to just steal a girl in this chaos, it's like the Raikage is mocking our power, sending you off on an errand than making you part of the main force."**_

The Eight-tails shook his head, _**"That's just what Bee and Yugito have been assigned to, and they've mastered and controlled our power, how they use it is up to them,"**_

**_"Bee and Yugito,"_ ** Ku repeated ** _, "So that's their name."_ **

Eight-Tails nodded his head, _ **"And what of yours?"**_

_**"Naruto,"**_ She replied, before lowering her head and also adding, **_"And Naruko."_**

Eight-Tails stared at her with a blank expression, ** _"So it is true, you were split in half,"_**

Ku gave an annoyed growl, **_"All cause of some power hunger masked man who put me under his control, my mind resides inside the boy, while my power is in his sister."_**

**_"I see,"_ ** Eight-tails responded, no malice in his voice, just a tinge of sympathy.

**_"But don't think that's gonna slow me down,"_ ** Ku told him with a challenging glare, causing the Eight-tails to raise an eyebrow at her curiously, ** _"Naruto's gonna win this battle."_**

Eight-Tails responded with a hearty laugh, ** _"Still as prideful as always, huh?"_ ** He asked, _ **"Than I guess Bee won't need to hold back."**_

* * *

However, the Rapper gave a "tsk" as he felt a scratch dig through his check, the blonde landing the faint blow against the Rapper as he barely slipped through his block. But considering it went through his tattoo, Bee felt a little ticked off.

_"Ay! You think you can defile my looks, boy!? That's my pride, yo! So Ima hurt yours!"_

And just like that, Bee delivered a powerful kick to Naruto as he tried to attack behind him, sending him crashing into a nearby tree, only for him to quickly get up and get ready to attack once again at full for. But what he saw made him stop.

Bee now stood on one leg, the other one bent to hold the blade clenched between his knee, while the rest of his blades were held by other parts of his body as he gave an odd stance that Naruto had never seen before. Naruto counting 7 blades in total.

_"Ima be frank, yo, I'd rather not do this, but you be looking like the type to keep going till you can't, so I'll be making sure to put you down sooner, rather than later,"_ Bee stated with a muffle from the blade held in his mouth, but his words still being made out by Naruto.

Naruto gripped his two kunai tighter, be it 2 swords or 7, it didn't change what he had to do.

Bee relaxed his stance, allowing his leg to bend a bit, a smirk coming on his face as he saw the boy keeping his gaze on him, determination in his eyes.

Bee was the first to start the assault as he leaped towards Naruto, his body spinning as he cut through all the branches in his path. Naruto throwing one of his kunai at the spinning swordsmen, only for it to be deflected by his blades and bounce off, forcing the blonde to jump out of the way as Bee landed, who quickly pursed Naruto from branch to branch.

Naruto was awestruck, he'd never seen a style of blades like this before, his opponent being able to cut through anything in his way with ease as his blades chopped through branches and left deep cuts into the trunks close enough. It was clear to Naruto he didn't want to risk being close, and he used his boosted speed to keep his distance.

He had to something to slow down this guy, or else there was no way he'd be able to get Hinata out of here without them pursuing. Throwing another Kunai at the revolving Bee, it was once again deflected, but that deter Naruto as he through more and more, each one that was deflected being embedded into the wood of a nearby tree.

He kept doing this until the chance he waited for arrived, with Bee taking a leap over a clearing with nothing below him, and Naruto smirked as he pulled his hand with a hard and fast tug. The sound of metal wires digging into wood screeching in the air, multiple wires becoming visible as they closed in around Bee on all sides, ready to pierce and trap him from all side.

Except that didn't happen, as Bee was able to increase the speed of his rotation with ease, his blades cutting through the wires with ease, but even so, it slowed him down just enough, for Naruto take advantage of.

Pulling hard with his other hand, revealing the multiple wires he held around his palm, Naruto had the kunai which were embedded into the trees before shoot off, and towards Bee, all with paper bombs wrapped around their hilts.

And Naruto couldn't help but curse those black glasses his opponent wore which prevented him from seeing his eyes, cause he was sure there was a look of surprise on his face.

**_*BOOM_ **

Naruto wasted no time as Bee was engulfed in the large explosion as he leaped from branch to branch towards Hinata, ready to grab her and get out.

_*Swoosh!_

Naruto was barely able to slow himself down as a blade passed right in front of his face, catching a glimpse of his reflection on the blades metal, before being forced back as other blade shot towards him, to which another went towards his back, causing him to stop on the branch he was on as he was stopped on both sides. Looking at the smoke created from the explosion, Naruto saw another blade shoot out towards his feet, making him jump back and hit the trunk of the tree.

But he was given no time to react as Bee emerged from the cloud of smoke, far fewer swords than before, but no less ferocity in his technique as he leaped at Naruto. The Blonde ducking just in time as the swordsmen slashed just where his head once was, cutting straight through the tree and pushing the now separated part of the trunk over. Naruto then having to jump upwards as Bee than aimed for a slice of his foot.

Now that he was in the air, Naruto saw that Bee was taking a moment to grab the rest of his blades he threw at him earlier. And seeing his chance, Naruto thought it was now or never as he made a seal and extended his hand out. His trademark golden chains shooting out of his hand as they went straight towards Bee, ready to tie him up and suppress his chakra, even if just for a bit, it would be enough for Naruto to throw him away with his boosted straight.

Only, that didn't happen, as for a moment, his world went into slow-motion, and the chains that have yet to fail him were stopped as Bee struck it way with his blades with such force that it ricocheted the blade off its course, causing Naruto to lose control of it. But Bee wasn't done, as he immobilized the chains by sticking two of his blades into the openings it held, trapping them against the tree he was on.

Naruto felt fear flash through his eyes as his immobilized chains caused him to stop in the air. Quickly breaking the jutsu he was ready to get away and try another plan, only he wasn't able to move away in time as Bee leaped at him, and the only thing the Blonde could do was gasp as he felt his skin pierced, blood flying out from his new wounds from the pair of blades that were now embedded into his body. Before falling into the water below.

_*Splash!_

Bee landed on the top of the tree he cut through, looking into the water where the boy fell as he put away the blades he still held. That would take care of the kid for a while he thought, now, it was time to take care of another problem.

_"So you thought I wouldn't notice you slipping by me?"_ He asked as he turned to his new target, _"Fool, ya fool,"_

Karin scrawled as she gripped the unconscious Hinata with one hand. In the commotion of Naruto and Bee's battle, she tried to slip through and take Hinata herself. But now not only was Naruto defeated and possible greatly injured, which put the Uzumaki on edge, now she was forced to face this monster on her own while her other teammates kept his partner occupied.

_"Time to take you down in flash, yo!"_ Bee proclaimed as he lept towards the redhead.

But Karin had a mission to do, and she'd see it through.

Bringing her hand into a seal, she placed Hinata down as she let out a scream as her entire body shook, her chakra surging as a large gold chain shot from her stomach.

Bee had his eyes widen a bit the chain, which was much larger than the one he saw Naruto shoot out earlier, not to mention it seemed as though this girl was much more skilled in wielding it, as it moved much faster than Bee anticipated, circling around him as it tried to wrapped and immobilized him. Bringing his arms up, the Cloud Jinchuuriki halted the chains as they tried to wrap around him, giving a grunt as they begin to glow, feeling his chakra becoming sealed away.

Karin gave a bit of a grin as she saw him start to struggle, Orochimaru had her use her chains against monstrous opponents before, and while his strength and chakra reserves seemed impressive, it would just take a bit more until she'd be able to immobilize him.

_"You think this is enough to seal away my chakra, fool, ya fool,"_

Karin felt her blood go cold at what she sense next.

Bee smirked as his chakra surrounded, pushing away the chains, coming up faster than the chains could seal.

This was chakra Karin couldn't even comprehend, it was massive, no, it was larger than anything she'd ever felt before, and even than, it felt like there was more.

"Don't give up!"

Karin looked down at the voice, her eyes widening as she saw Naruto standing above the water, pulling out the last blade that was still embedded in him before tossing it aside, steam coming up from his wounds as they regenerated, that familiar red tinge in his eyes. The blonde putting his hands in a seal, before shooting out his own set of golden chains from his chest, shooting up at Bee and wrapping around him atop of her own.

"We can do this together!" Naruto shouted his golden chains also glowing as the combined force finally stopped Bee from pushing away the chains, creating a standstill. But Naruto wasn't gonna let it stay like that, they were this close to getting Hinata out of here, and he wasn't gonna waste it.

"Ahhhh!" He roared, his golden chains becoming enveloped in blue chakra, adding more strength to their power as it tipped the scales in their favor. The chains were finally reaching Bee's skin, wrapping tighter and tighter around the man as his body became stiffer and stiffer, closer and closer to becoming trapped.

Naruto and Karin had smirks on their faces at how close they were, just a bit more and they'd be able to get out of here.

However, the blank look Bee had on his face, was an omen for just how far they were from actually winning.

_"I gotta say, this battle's been interesting, yo,"_ The Rapper stated, surprising his two opponents by how calm his voice was, _"But I can't let you continue sealing my power though, so in the pride of my name, Killer Bee, I'll show a glimpes of the power that lies inside me,"_

**_*Crack_ **

That wasn't a good sound, Naruto and Karin's eyes going wide in surprise, and fear, as their two layers of chains shook, still wrapped tightly around Bee, but with every second they remained like that, another crack was seen along their form.

_*Slither_

_'Is that an octopus tail!'_ Naruto mentally shouted as the slimy large appendage appeared from the lower back of the man,looking similar to the ones he saw that horned octopus have, the new appendage pushing the chains away as they cracked even more.

Naruto never felt anything like this before, not from anyone he's met before, not even his sister, the raw power that this man contained and effortless control, yet somehow only seemed like a fraction of the full amount. _'Is this, the power of a full-fledge Jinchuriki?'_

**_*BOOM_ **

Naruto had to admit, he didn't know what type of recoil he'd suffer from the chains breaking, but they were not what he expected. First, a few chains that were wrapped around Bee broke off first, their chakra constructs disappearing in an explosion that he and Karin seemed to feel more than Bee, despite being closer. After that, The chains that were still connected to them violently cam shooting back into their bodies, disappearing back where they came from and leaving the two Uzumaki's winded, along with the chakra they just lost from their beaten attack.

Karin panting heavily as she leaned herself against the trunk of the tree, eyes distorted as all of her senses were off, unable to even remember Hinata was right next to her. Naruto was barely able to keep himself atop of the water as he knelled down, his head hung towards the water as his reflection, his reflection looking back up at him. With a face that conveyed that he didn't know what else do.

Above them both, Bee stood still, wondering if he should finish them both off now that he had the chance to be sure. But with both of their spirits seemed to have been beaten and broken, he wondered if that would really be necessary. Eventually, though, he decided against ending them. But just as he was about to go and retrieve Hinata and make her way over to his comrade, something felt off. And he turned his head towards Naruto.

_'I need to do something, but what?'_ The dejected Uzumaki asked himself, winded, head spinning from the recoil of his repealed attack, feeling like he was on his last legs, and not even having made a dent against their opponent, as he continued looking at his reflection, only to then notice a ripple.

"Huh?"

Naruto could barely see Kisame smirk under the water as he rose straight towards him

**Author's Note:**

> So first chapter done, I'll try and get the next chapter out next week but I'll be in japan so it may release a little later than usual.


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